Bite Me
by TwilightxMusicLuver
Summary: What if Edward came back before Bella had the chance to jump off the cliff? How would their love have fared? Characters are slightly OOC, rated M. Please give it a chance.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Disclaimer, I own nothing!**

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Prologue-

Mary Alice Brandon sped through the woods, a mere streak, a blur that left debris flying in her wake and had the woodland animals scurrying to find solace from the unknown. She slowed as she reached a spot where she was certain her eldest and dearest brother couldn't 'hear' her. She muttered spitefully at his stupid and masochistic ways as she paced the wooded area angrily like a tiger in a cage. She wished desperately that her lover were here to calm her down; Jasper would surely know what to do. But bringing him into this would compromise her entire 'operation', as she prefers to call it.

She gave a large huff and settled down near a tree, getting comfortable as she prepared herself for a vision. Alice had been plotting this getaway ever since the get-go. But it had a few holes in it; she would have to hurry up because she knew Jasper would be coming any time now, he would be hurting if he knew she was hiding anything from him. She knew for a fact that plotting in secrecy from Jasper had taken a toll on their relationship, but it would be worth the fruit of her achievement. At least, that's what she told herself.

Another hole in her scheming would be the actual reason for her ploy; Edward. She had done well in hiding her mind from him, but there were cracks. Edward was suspicious, and he too would be following her scent. She had to make this quick.

Alice closed her eyes and focused all her energy on _her_. To make sure _she_ was all right. Alice loved–still loves–_her_ as a sister. She just wanted to make sure her sister was fairing well. She sure as hell knew her brother was not. She calmed her breathing and cleared her mind, and waited. She waited and waited and waited, and continuously drew up blank. Panic rose up and coiled in her tummy. Her breathing accelerated, her chest rose and fell rapidly with each breath.

Her eyes searched the little clearing in which she sat, as if she could see _her_ there, while her mind continued to draw up blank. Alice tried Carlisle's future and saw him at work, bent over a desk in his white lab coat. She opted for Esme next and saw her mother figure sweeping and dusting their already immaculate house. _Oh God, oh no_. She shifted through all her family member's futures and saw exactly what she expected to see. But when she tried _her _future, she couldn't find anything. A feeling of dread crawled up her spine, and for the first time in her vampiric existence, she felt cold.

Not wanting to waste a single second, Alice got up and ran like a bat out of hell to inform her brother. Her cell was already out of her pocket and she dialed as fast as the piece of junk would allow, "Hello? I need two tickets for the fastest flight to Port Angeles, Washington, please."

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**A/N: So how was it? I'm anxious to hear your thoughts on it. **


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Happy New Year's Everybody!**

**Disclaimer!**

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****Chapter 1- Hero's Comeback**

**BPOV-**

The weekend was finally here and I was torn on what I should do. Dad was staying in Seattle for a while because they were short on officers and with the sudden slaughtering of the local residents; Seattle needed all the help it could get. Ever since I had learned about Jacob's change, I had spent more time with the wolves than anyone else. It was becoming unhealthy, but intrigue kept pulling me to La Push.

But now I searched for a break from them. What could I do? _First I need to take care of this laundry_, I grunted to myself as I lifted the hamper. The laundry room was basically the basement underneath the stairs, and as I neared the door, I heard…voices. I stilled, felt the hair on the back of my neck rise and shuddered in response. It was a muffled sound, and it was coming from upstairs.

The thought of an intruder in the house made my heart thump hard against the confines of my chest. My first notion was to call Charlie, but it would take forever for him to get here. I felt frozen in spot; unsure of what the right thing was to do. _The hell with it_, I tiptoed up the stairs, avoiding all the creaks in the wood. I still clutched the hamper in my arms in a pitiful attempt for defense and the exertion behind the task made my muscles clench and my breathing shorten.

The climb seemed to go on forever, but the closer I got, the louder the voices became. It was coming from my room.

The hamper now shook violently in my arms, my limbs felt like jelly. As I climbed the last step, the muffled voices became muffled music. I recognized the tune as the last song I played on my stereo.

_Braced myself for the goodbye, 'cause that's all I've ever known_.

I didn't dare move any faster than I was now; if I did, I would surely trip and kill myself before the intruder even knew I was in the house.

_And you took me by surprise; you said "I'll never leave you alone."_

Sweat pooled at the base of my spine as a thought entered my mind, _what if the trespasser wasn't human?_ I stopped breathing, if it was a vampire they would hear my breath and my heartbeat, they would smell the fear that I was sure permeated off of me in thick waves.

My lungs burned and screamed, but I refused to take a breath, I couldn't.

_You said, "I remember how we felt sitting by the water. And every time I look at you, it's like the first time._

My door was open. I stood in front of the doorway on the brink of collapsing, and my heart jumped as I stared at the figure in front of my stereo. The figure stood in the shadows of my room, away from my window, so that it was dark, an ominous air around it. For a second, I thought it was Victoria, I really did.

As the figure turned to me with the grace and speed of a vampire, I realized how very wrong I was.

My eyes widened, and I gasped, the breath of fresh air feeling heavenly. I dropped the hamper and it landed with a thud, spilling dirty clothes all around the entrance of my room.

_I fell in love with a careless man's careful daughter, she is the best thing_

_That's ever been mine!"_

He hesitantly stepped closer to me, directly into the path of the sunlight streaming through the window. Those brilliantly gold eyes stood out and highlighted golden wisps in his bronze hair. My hands came up to cover my mouth from making an embarrassing sound as I studied his glorious features.

_You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter,_

I snapped out of my haze and walked quickly to him, the adrenaline from my mindless fear rushing through my system and egging me on.

_You are the best thing,_

_That's ever been mine_

His arms came up as I rushed to him

_Do you believe it?_

I crashed into his chest with as much force as my mortal body could manage. I wanted to bury myself in him.

_We're gonna make it now_

I would probably have bruises later, but as his long arms wrapped securely around me, I didn't give a flying fish. I had forgotten how perfectly we fit with each other. It was exhilarating.

_I can see it._

I nuzzled my face into his chest and he pressed his face into my neck. Breathing in his perfume made me light-headed and I could barely conjure a coherent thought as smooth, cool lips pressed to my collarbone. I dragged his face to fine to fulfill the moment and sparks ignited as our lips met. My hands went up to caress his soft hair and his hands cupped my face closer to his.

_I can see it now_

_See it now_

_See it now_

_See it now_

I pulled my lips from his slowly, reluctantly for air. The two of us stood there with our arms around each other, breathing hard and staring into one another's eyes. His cool breath made me dizzy and my vision blurred in my haze. I couldn't believe he was here. He was actually here! It wasn't a dream. I could've just stood there forever, looking into his penetrating liquid gold eyes, but he had other plans.

"Bella?" Oh God, his voice, I forgot how much his velvety voice affected me.

"Edward," I breathed dreamily. "You came back."

His lips curled up into my favorite smile ever. "I came home." I beamed in happiness and locked my arms around his neck. My smile was so big my face began to hurt. He picked me up like a child and walked us over to my bed, laying me down on my pillows and comforter. I didn't want to waste a single second so I reached my arms up to him and being the best boyfriend in the history of forever, he lowered himself on top of me. Carefully keeping most of his weight off of me he pressed his body to mine and rested his head on my chest, listening to my heart.

I sighed in content, the dirty laundry completely forgotten for now. The moment was so perfect that nothing could've ever tainted it.

"Are you really back, Edward? Are you going to stay this time? All of you?" He looked up at me with eyes burning with the intensity of his emotions.

"If you want us to, love." My heart swelled with the mention of his nickname for me.

I stroked his hair, "I do. I want all of you to stay. Especially you." He got up to lie next to me, our faces a mere inch apart.

"Bella," he choked out. "I don't know how to even begin to apologize–" I pressed my fingertip to his lips, effectively shutting him up. He kissed my finger and I smiled tenderly at my man.

"There is nothing to apologize for. I know why you did what you did." He looked surprised.

"You do?" he asked. I rubbed his lips with my thumb and forefinger, and his eyelids lowered. Butterflies began to tickle my stomach without mercy.

"Yeah. I didn't understand your behavior at first, but I know you. I know my Edward." I snuggled closer to him. His hard and cold body was perfection; I pecked his lips once just because he was so perfect.

"I knew you were coming back."

"Really?" He breathed, touching our foreheads and noses together.

"Really. I don't know how, but I did. I was actually going to give you a year before I packed up and went looking for you." He closed his eyes momentarily.

"I guess I'm not as strong as you thought, then."

'That's not what I meant." I touched his cheekbone with the back of my hand. His hand was stroking my hair, the other clutching at my waist. "I meant our love is stronger than I thought." He smiled genuinely and kissed me languidly for then next few minutes or so.

Sighing, I pulled back. Air is becoming so very irritating.

His eyes looked so sad when I looked at him. "Edward?"

He grimaced. "I feel like I missed out on so much." I frowned.

"Tell me what you did, then."

He raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"You're concerned about our time apart, right? You want to know what went on in your absence?" He winced at the word absence.

"Yes."

"Well, so do I. Tell me what you did this whole time."

He stared at me for a while and then broke out into a sheepish grin, "I more or less curled up in a ball of misery. Sometimes I would visit my family, but I stayed out in the woods thinking of you most of the time."

I moved a few locks that had fallen into his line of vision out of the way. "I'm pretty sure I would've done the same had I not had the information that you were going to come back. That little tidbit kept me sane for the most part."

He nuzzled my face and kissed any part of me that he could reach, "How's school?"

"Hmm, tedious. It's not the same without you. Nothing's the same without you." I hummed, closing my eyes as his lips trailed to my neck.

He paused for a moment, "Did you, I mean…did you, you know…with anyone else?" I pulled his face up to mine.

"Absolutely not. You're it, Edward. You're the only one for me." I willed him with my eyes to believe me.

He smiled, "Okay. I trust you. You're the only one for me, too." He kissed me once and murmured against my lips, "Always."

The feel of his lips on mine was nothing my feeble mind could ever do justice. My heart pounded, my blood roared in my ears, pang after delicious pang swept through my body. He hummed and the sensation was indescribable.

He pulled away to resume our former position. His cool fingers felt relaxing on my heated skin. "God, how I've missed that." He whispered.

"Why did you come back? What finally changed your mind?"

"Alice." He said simply. I looked at him. He chuckled at the impatience in my eyes. "Alice has been planning from the start to check on your future. Even though I told her to stay out of it." He rolled his eyes and smiled at me. "But she loves you too much. And when she checked on your future, she kept drawing up blank." His expression twisted with worry and anguish. "I thought you were gone. We don't know why she keeps coming up blank. What have you gotten yourself into now Isabella?"

That did it. Our bubble of contentment burst as reality cam crashing like a bucket of ice-cold water. "Bella?" He asked anxiously. I had completely forgotten about Victoria, Laurent, and the wolves.

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**A/N: Please review; i want to know what you guys are thinking!**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-

"Bella? Bella, what is it?" Edward's anxious face hovered over me.

"I-" I choked out.

"Ssh, baby. It's okay, I'm here, and you're safe." Edward straddled my waist and massaged my scalp as he waited for me to respond.

"Edward," I bit my lip. I coughed out a laugh, "I don't know how to begin." He shifted so that he was sitting up and I was sitting in his lap.

"Start from the beginning."

That was going to be hard too. How was I to explain this to him? "Edward, Victoria is after me."

He became as still as a statue. "What?"

"Victoria is looking for me." I rushed, "I was walking in the woods one day and Laurent found me. He told me that Victoria was going to kill me because you had killed James. A mate for a mate."

He looked down at me with wide eyes pooling with distress. "Oh, God. Oh, Bella. I should have never le– " I shook my head.

"Don't, please?" He nodded silently.

"How did you…I mean…how are you still alive?" He choked out.

I grimaced. "Werewolves." I said simply. "They chased Laurent away and killed him. I've been spending time with them ever since." I bit my lip and shied away, wondering how he would take this information.

"Werewolves?" I nodded hesitantly, waiting for the storm. "The Quileutes? They…?" I nodded again.

He moved me off his lap and settled me down beside him before putting his head into his hands. "Only you, Bella" he moaned. "Only you would have a vengeful vampire chasing after you. Only you would be saved by werewolves." He was silent for a long while and with each passing moment, I became increasingly anxious.

Finally, I couldn't take the silence anymore, "Edward?"

He lifted his head, not looking at me, and sighed heavily. At last, he turned his eyes to me, "Do you spend a lot of time with them?" I nodded yes. "Are they, are they your…friends?"

"Yes," It was his turn to nod.

"I see." He stayed quiet and the silence began killing me slowly.

"Edward? Are you mad at me?" I asked timidly.

His head snapped up to look at me, large, strong hands coming up to tenderly caress my face. I was wearing a pair of worn out jeans and a light sweater, but his penetrating stare made me feel like I was naked and I could feel the heat crawling up my neck to my face. "No, Bella. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself for being such a stupid, masochistic idiot." I raised my eyebrows. "Alice's words, not mine," he explained. We shared a brief smile. "Bella, darling, I know that you believe that there is nothing to forgive, but would you care to indulge in my selfish need to apologize? For my sake? Because I honestly feel like if I don't get this off my chest, I will explode." _Well, when you put it that way._

I rolled my eyes, but smiled and nodded.

"Bella, love, you don't know what it means to me that you would accept me back with open arms, just like that, after all that I've done to you." I opened my mouth to object, but bit my tongue instead; he needed this and I would fully support him. "I'm sorry that I caused any amount of pain to you. I'm sorry for the pain I caused _myself_. And that is truly saying something. Inevitably, I made the biggest mistake in the history of my existence, something that could've easily been avoided. All this pain could've been avoided." He picked up my hands and kissed the back of each. "I'm sorry that I left you, I'm sorry that I missed out on so much of your life. I'm sorry that I wasn't there to protect you from Laurent, I'm sorry that you had to turn to _werewolves _for help. I'm sorry that I took not only myself, but rest of us Cullens away from you, too. I realize now that its best for us to be together."

"Done?" I looked at him expectantly. He smiled a little and nodded his head yes. "Good," and then I proceeded to throw my arms around him, hugging him tight to me. "I may not always agree with your decisions, but I understand that you'll always put me first before anyone else. I love you for being so considerate. And I know for a fact that you aren't the only one behind this little catastrophe. I'm to blame, too." I felt him begin to reiterate, and went on before he had a chance. "I knew what was happening, and I didn't stop you because I thought that perhaps it was paramount. That if I didn't let you go, then you would always doubt your place with me. So I'm sorry, too." He pulled back to kiss my forehead and then placed my head back in the crook of his shoulder.

We stayed silent then, it was a comfortable silence that seemed too fragile and precious to break. He was running his hands from the hair at the top of my head to my waist, repeating the circuit for about twelve times before asking in a low, playful voice, "So you love me only because I'm considerate?"

I giggled into the collar of his shirt. "There are other aspects of you that I love too, ya know."

"As a matter of fact I don't know." He turned us so that he was lying on my bed and I was lying on top of him. "I do know, however, that I love you because you're beautiful, selfless, understanding, courageous, amazing, frustrating, multi-dimensional, devoted, irresistible, and cunning. I love your laugh, your smile, your happiness, your gorgeous hair, your expressive eyes, your striking face, your unpredictable mind, your stunning body, and your love for music and literature. I love your everything."

My face had been buried in his chest after 'amazing', the left side of his unzipped jacket half-covering my head. I'm pretty sure he'd felt the burning in my face long before I had. He chuckled and tugged on my arms so that my head would follow. I bit my lip through my smile as I faced him fully, still blushing like mad. I laughed breathlessly, "Are you quite done yet?"

He kissed me hard on the mouth, and whispered against my lips, "Not nearly, but words aren't enough to express my love for you. I wish I could show you." I moved my lips against his in a sensual manner, wanting to really feel him. The growing pangs of desire that spread through my system provoked me into tugging his bottom lip in between my own and sucking lightly. His soft moan vibrated against my mouth and I whimpered slightly at the sensation. He pulled away and threw his head back on my pillows with a light thump, panting slightly. I settled my head next to his on a particularly fat pillow, facedown. My arms were on either side of us, tangled with his.

He snickered, just as breathless as I was. "We're going to end up destroying each other like this."

I hummed in agreement, turning my head to the side because I was becoming smothered. "I know what you mean," thinking about the little currents of electricity still running throughout my insides. If we kept this up, we'd just end up spontaneously combusting.

I fell asleep in his arms that night, and had the most fitful sleep in what seemed like forever.

I woke up alone. It was raining lightly outside, but what else was new? I checked my bedside clock to see that it was well past noon. I turned over and kicked off my jeans; it was way too hot. After a few minutes of attempting to fall asleep again, I groaned, stretching my muscles and when my brain caught up with my body, I sat up so quickly, I nearly gave myself whiplash. Swiveling my head around, there was no indication of Edward's reappearance at all. And then I saw his jacket draped over my desk chair and smiled so big, my face began to hurt.

I jumped off the bed and ran down the stairs in my socks like a kid on Christmas. I skidded to a halt when I saw him in the kitchen. Awww! He was making me breakfast! I walked over, roaming my gaze over him clad in a white, button-up and dark jeans, looking delicious.

Wrapping my arms around him, I whispered against the base of his neck, "Good-morning."

He flipped a pancake before smiling over his shoulder at me, "Isn't it?"

I hummed and took my time gazing at his butt after he had turned back around. His cool skin felt really good against my skin, very refreshing. When he had finished, he turned around with the plate; his expression amused and froze in his tracks as he looked down at me.

My smile slowly dissipated as I took in his wide eyes. "What is it?"

His eyes snapped back up to mine and he quickly turned back to the counter, his back facing me. He coughed awkwardly, his voice trembling with what sounded like laughter as he asked, "Um, did you want to put some pants on, Bella?"

My eyes grew wide in horror and I looked down at myself. I was wearing socks, my boxer-briefs, and my sweater from yesterday. My legs were completely exposed.

I stood there for a second, willing my face to cool down. Steeling myself, I crossed my arms and cocked my hips. "Why? Is there something wrong with what I'm wearing now?"

He turned back to me and shrugged, handing me my plate. "Are you planning on wearing that all day?" He asked staring unabashedly at my legs.

I snorted, hoping that would cover up my embarrassment. "Naw, I'm just seriously hungry. I'll change after I eat." It wasn't a complete lie.

"Hmmm," he hummed, and sat down next to me at the table while I ate. I was pretty sure he could see right through me, but he humored me anyway and didn't say anything else about my state of undress.

I looked down at my plate and laughed, my uncomfort and embarrassment momentarily forgotten. Edward had made me two pancakes, two eggs, sunny side up, and a strip of bacon, all forming a smiley face. I looked over at him to see him grinning beautifully.

"This is the best way to start a day," he said decidedly, and rested his head on his arms, still smiling up at me. "Laughing with the one you love." I gave him one more smile before digging in. For someone who doesn't eat food, he sure as hell know how to cook. I couldn't exactly enjoy breakfast, though, as Edward kept distracting me. One minute we were talking, the next his hand was sliding up my legs. I was a stuttering mess the whole while, and he was the cat who caught the canary.

After breakfast, I rushed upstairs to go through my morning routine, dressing up in jeans and dark blue button-up. I yanked a brush through my hair, grabbed Edward's jacket off the desk chair and ran back downstairs where Edward was watching TV in dad's chair. I threw his jacket at him and ran over to the coat hanger to grab my own.

"Where are we going?" He asked as I pulled my coat on.

"Your house," I said with a 'duh' expression. Amusement played with his lips as I locked the door. We walked over hand in hand to the Volvo parked in the driveway. I raised my eyebrows at him, and he shrugged.

"Where is Charlie, anyway?" Edward inquired as he opened the passenger door for me.

"He's in Seattle. They were a little short on men and with the killing spree going on over there, they need all the help they can get."

He frowned as he pulled out of the driveway, "Killing spree?"

"Yeah," I frowned, too, concerned for Charlie. "A whole bunch of people are turning up dead or missing." I shrugged, "I don't know the details, but they think it's a mass murder or something."

He reached over the console to squeeze my hand. I smiled gratefully at him and kissed his cheek before resting my head on his shoulder.

After a moment of silence, I said, "I didn't know either."

"Huh?"

"I didn't know why you loved me either until yesterday. But I do know that I love you because you're caring, gentlemanly, beautiful, incredible, sweet, noble, gallant, chivalrous, devious, and committed. And of course considerate." He chuckled quietly. "I love your intellect, your wayward hair, your intense eyes, your past, your family, your body – even if it is hard and cold, cause I know what's underneath that exterior, your capacity to love, your mind, and your mind-reading ways. I love everything about you." I played with his hair, tugging it and rubbing his scalp.

He pulled over to the side of the road and turned to me. "Are you quite done yet?" He grinned.

I snorted, "What's it to you?"

He leaned over to brush my hair back, "Cause I really want to kiss you now."

I leaned into his touch, "By all means, Mr. Cullen."

_God, you have to love his lips,_ I thought as we crashed into each other. His scent overwhelmed my senses; his touch had me melting in my seat. My hands tangled in his hair and I pulled him closer to me, kneeling on my seat. My body started burning again, starting from my core and spreading. When I thought I was going to faint from lack of oxygen, he pulled away, and rested his forehead against mine.

When our gasps quieted down to slightly heavy breathing, we laughed like the sneaky teens we were supposed to be. Edward started driving again when we finally calmed down. For the rest of the drive, we snickered and snorted every now and then and just couldn't seem to stop. I was afraid that when we arrived at the Cullen's home, we would be caught wearing the guilty expressions of what we did. And we didn't even really do much of anything!

As we neared the mansion, my fears evaporated and were replaced with anxious excitement. Edward smirked over at me when he saw I was practically bouncing in place. I beamed when I saw a certain dark-haired little pixie, bouncing in place as well, waiting impatiently on the patio.

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**A/N: Please read and review! Maybe Edward will come over to cook breakfast for you ;)**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3-

I was out of the car even before Edward cut off the engine. Running was slightly dangerous for someone so accident prone, but I would definitely run a marathon if it meant seeing my sister afterwards. I didn't have to worry about that, however, as she came running to me.

Alice was nothing but a blur to my human vision; she crashed into my body and knocked my breath out. Then, she proceeded to squeeze the life out of me.

"Alice!" I heard Edward yell.

"Al – ice – can't…breathe!" I choked out.

"Oops!" Alice released me and in a very human reaction, she held her hands over her mouth.

I frowned down at her, "I said I couldn't breathe. I didn't say to let go of me."

She beamed up at me and hugged me again, a little lighter this time. I chuckled, trying my best not to start crying. I really, really missed the tiny sprite.

She freed me, but kept a firm grip on my hand, dragging me through the patio and up the stairs to the porch. I latched onto Edward with my free hand and we walked through the door, a three-man train.

The Cullen home hadn't changed in the least bit since the last time I had been here. It was just as beautiful, airy, and posh as it had been on my seventeenth birthday, if not, then more so. Esme was the first to get up, she squeezed me into a hug as well, Alice was forced to let me go, but Edward held my hand in a death grip.

"Welcome back, sweetie." Esme said sweetly. She squeezed my shoulders once more, looking like she would be crying if she could, gave me one more smile, and handed me off to Carlisle. I blinked back my own tears as Carlisle enveloped me in his embrace. He smelled like Charlie; like musk, spice, and home.

"It's good to see you again, Bella." He gave me that lady-killer smile of his and I had to remind myself to take a breath.

"And under better circumstances, too." I joked, referring to my many trips to the hospital. He laughed under his breath and went to stand next to his wife, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Before I had time to blink, I was hoisted into a pair of incredibly large arms; Edward finally forced to let go of my hand.

"Bella-bear!"

"Emmett!" I squeaked out. "Put me down, you big oaf!"

"Whoops! Sorry, forgot." He gave me a sheepish grin, his adorable dimples showing. His boyish expression did me in. What the hell, I've got nothing to lose but a couple of ribs, and there was a doctor in the house, along with a guy who went through medical school twice.

I rolled my eyes and held my arms out. He grinned even wider and picked me up again like a doll. When he put me back down, Edward put his hands at my waist to steady me, and my face was flushed from the joy ride I was just on.

When I finally shied my grinning face away from the amused Cullen family, I noticed the last two members by the grand staircase.

I wasn't good at emotions as it was, but when you're stuck in this kind of position, things become slightly awkward. Who the hell am I kidding? Things get SERIOUSLY awkward.

Everyone was silent for a few moments, unaware of how to approach this. I was facing Jasper and Rosalie so I couldn't see the rest of the family's faces, though Edward kept his hand at my waist still. His touch was really the only thing that kept me from bolting out the door.

I didn't really know either Rosalie or Jasper. Rosalie always gave me the impression that she didn't want anything to do with me. Jasper, however, had tried, but never came all that close to me because of his bloodlust. And then there was the incident at my birthday party…do I have to say it again? _Awkward_.

Not able to stand the quiet any longer, I cleared my throat and smiled as best as I could, "Hey Jasper, Rosalie."

Jasper smiled slightly and nodded, Rosalie just nodded. She then cat walked to the couch and perched on the end, opening a magazine that was on the side table. Emmett moved over to sit next to her, giving me an apologetic smile and mussing up my hair before plopping down next to her and turning on the TV.

"Bella dear?" I turned around towards Esme's voice as I tried to fix my hair. "I hope you'll stay for lunch; I'll make something edible, I promise." Now who could say no to that face? I smiled at her and nodded, leaning in to Edward as he embraced me from behind. She beamed back at me and rushed to the kitchen to get started right away.

Carlisle chuckled at his wife's antics before facing Edward. "Edward, son, can I speak to you for a moment?" Edward nodded his head; he kissed me once and smiled at me. The two of them headed towards Carlisle's study.

A dark head popped up in my sight of view, "Bella? Why do you aggravate me so?"

I raised my eyebrow down at her, "What are you talking about, Alice?"

She gestured to my clothes and my eyes widened.

"Oh, no."

"Oh, yes." Alice gave a Cheshire cat smile.

"Oh, no." I backed up a step.

"Uh-huh." She followed me with a lithe step of her own.

"No, no. Please Alice, no."

"Oh, yeah." She nodded her dark head and threw her arms in the air. "Make-over time!" I groaned and the sound quickly turned into a light gasp as she dragged me up the stairs to her room.

"Alice!" I had no choice but to submit to the conniving, little pixie. She was too strong for me.

As she looked through her closet for some 'suitable' clothes, I sat at her vanity, pondering at what Edward and Carlisle were talking about. Her singsong, chipper voice interrupted my musings as she asked about school, my friends at school, Charlie, etc. She dolled me up in some super tight, dark skinny jeans, and a pair of cute boots with fake gray fur lining the top.

Apparently, this time, I didn't do all that bad so she let me keep my shirt on. When Alice began doing my makeup and brushing through my hair, she turned on some music. Friggin' Lady Gaga, I never would've pegged Alice for a fan.

We swayed to _Paparazzi_ and _Telephone_, "Bella, your hair is so gorgeous! I wish I had hair that was as long and beautiful as yours." She picked up a strand from her dark bob and frowned down at it. "When you have hair this short, it's difficult to do anything with it. I'm kind of getting tired of wearing the same style over and over again."

"Why don't you use extensions, or wigs?" I suggested.

She wrinkled her perfect nose at me. "Fake hair, huh? I'll think about it," she conceded.

After a few moments of singing along to _Love Game, _I asked Alice, "When are you guys gonna come back to school?"

She applied some kind of moisturizer into my hair, "We're thinking after Spring Break." I nodded, five day of school without Edward or Alice; I could do that.

When Alice was finished, we joined the rest of the family in the living room. Esme had prepared chicken Caesar salad for me and I smiled thankfully at her from my position snuggled into Edward's arm. Jasper still strayed away from me, looking uncomfortable and Rosalie continued to ignore my presence. But that was fine, because I had Edward; he stroked my hair, feeling its soft texture, running his hand up and down my back.

We maintained contact throughout the entire time I was eating. Once I had finished and Esme took the bowl from me to clean it, Carlisle spoke, "Bella, I hear that you've been...that you've befriended werewolves?"

"Yes."

He nodded, "I see."

"Why? Is something wrong?" I heard Rosalie snort lightly, and Edward glared over at her. I turned to him, "Edward?"

He sighed, "The werewolves are coming tonight to...discuss the treaty?" He didn't sound so sure. "We don't know what for yet."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "There's something else."

He grimaced, "Last night, while you were asleep, a werewolf – I believe his name is Jacob – came over to your house. But upon catching my scent, he went back."

My eyes widened, "Shit!" I stood up, fumbling around for my cell; it was off. When I turned it on, my phone beeped like crazy, signaling I had about twenty missed calls and sixteen texts. All from the wolves.

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**Yes, i know that I wrote Jasper attacked her on her _seventeenth_ birthday; i did it because i honestly thought that nineteen was a little too old. I probably won't even let her make it to eighteen ;)**

**Reviews PLEASE!**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4-

I winced as I scrolled through all the texts; all were concerned about me and most were curses to the Cullens. I muttered a quick 'excuse me' as I walked briskly up the stairs to the hallway. I scrolled through my contacts and pressed call for Jake. Edward had followed me and stood patiently beside me while the phone rang.

I knew he wasn't here to listen to what the wolves had to say, he could've just stayed downstairs and heard with his vampire super-hearing. He came to give me support and comfort and that made me fall in love with him just a little more.

I clung onto his arm as Jacob picked up the phone.

"Bella?" he asked breathlessly with relief.

"Hey, Jake."

"Bella! I'm so glad to hear from you. Are you okay?"

I sighed, "I'm perfectly fine, Jacob."

"I went by your house last night 'cause we caught the scent of vampires. You…there was a Cullen at your house." It wasn't a question and I knew I owed it to him to explain.

"Yes, there was. Edward Cullen." I could practically hear him grinding his teeth. The phone clattered and unidentifiable noises erupted until it stopped and another voice came on.

"Bella?"

"Embry."

"Bella, what are you doing? How can you just go back to them like that?" He didn't sound mad, just hurt. Embry and I were really close. He was gay and whenever I was over at La Push, we would talk about the hottest guy celebs in Hollywood. He was for all intent and purposes, my girlfriend.

"You should know why, Bree." He sighed.

"Yeah, I guess. But, baby girl, you do know that you can't exactly come back to La Push now, don't you?"

I winced, yeah, I knew. The wolves had such an immense hatred for the Cullens; it would be difficult for them to even talk. I knew how they felt now too; I was a traitor in their eyes.

I didn't want to be, but there was no way in hell I would ever give up Edward again. Not now, not ever. He squeezed my hand and I squeezed back, thankful for his support. I'm pretty sure that he could see the hurt in my eyes, because I could see hurt in his eyes, too. He didn't say anything, though.

"Yes, I do." I whispered. "But can't you come over here?"

He was silent for a moment, "We'll see. I'll see you tonight." And then he hung up.

I looked up at Edward and he raised an eyebrow at me. I reached up to squish it back down. "You should know better than anyone that I fully intend to be there tonight, Edward."

He grimaced, "I'll talk to Carlisle about it." I nodded and stayed where I was, fiddling with the buttons on my phone again. When Edward saw I wasn't following him, he turned back around, "You coming?"

I nodded and pressed my cell to my ear. "Just give me a few minutes. I want to talk to Charlie." He made his way downstairs to converse with Carlisle.

After a few moments of ringing, "Hello?"

"Dad?" I asked.

"Bella, sweetheart. Hey, how you doing?"

"I'm fine. You busy?"

He sighed, "Yeah, somewhat. I should be home by the middle of Spring Break, I suppose. A couple of the officers here had gone to take care of another case, but they're coming back. Once they do, I should be able to come back home."

"That's good. I'll be waiting with hot lasagna and some warm milk."

He barked out a laugh and I smiled into the phone. "Can't wait. What are you doing right now?"

I paused, hoping he would be okay with this. "I'm at the Cullen house."

There was silence coming from the other end for a beat, then, "What?"

"They came back, Dad. Edward came over yesterday. I'm here, uh, helping them unpack." _I don't think that sounded all that convincing_.

"Oh, well, okay. That's good I guess," he said in his gruff voice. _But apparently he bought it_. "Are Carlisle and Esme there?"

I groaned, "Yes, Dad. What, did you think I was here all alone with him? Jeez."

"Put them on the phone," he sounded embarrassed.

"Dad!"

"Isabella," he used his stern father voice, "Put them on the phone."

I huffed but complied and walked down the stairs. The family was snickering to themselves, having of course heard the entire conversation. Carlisle walked up to me, trying his best to hide his grin. I rolled my eyes and handed him my cell.

"Hey, Charlie." Pause. "Yes, Esme is here, too," he chuckled out. He pulled the phone away from his ear and faced his wife, "He says hi." Esme giggled and Carlisle put the phone back to his ear, unable to hide his smile anymore, "She says hi, too." Pause. "Yes, I completely understand, Charlie. Don't worry, we're all here in the living room, I won't let them out of my sight." Edward and Jasper snickered as Emmett let out a guffaw. I covered my face with a throw pillow on the sofa. "Yes, okay," Carlisle released a full-out belly laugh now. "Absolutely. Good-bye Charlie." He handed me the phone, grinning from ear-to-ear.

I pulled the pillow away, "Dad?"

"Bella, listen to Carlisle and Esme, okay?"

I growled, "Bite me."

The entire room fell into laughter, Jasper feeling everyone's hysteria caused him to double over. Even Rosalie was snickering. Charlie chuckled through the cell, "I love you too, sweetheart." He hung up.

I shut my phone and resumed burying my head in the pillow. I felt cool fingers pry my fingers off the pillow and the next thing I knew, I was in Edward's lap, and the throw pillow was on Emmett's face. He was laughing the loudest.

Emmett held the pillow in his hands, "Oh, it is on, bro." The next hour, we battled in a pillow war. Well, the guys battled in a pillow war; a few minutes into the fight, Esme sneaked off to cook me dinner, Rosalie went upstairs to her room, and Alice pulled me to the side so that we could videotape the whole thing.

After I finished off the steak that Esme gave me for dinner, we were off to meet the wolves. I had no idea where we were going, but I was told to bundle up so I borrowed a blue pea coat from Alice. It was tight around my upper body and then flared out slightly to the bottom of my thighs so it would be easy to climb on Edward's back.

We, well, _they, _ran to a large clearing where the grass was short and the trees were far apart. I had no idea where we were.

Rosalie perched atop a small boulder and Emmett sat in between her legs. Alice danced over to a slightly smaller boulder a couple yards from them, sitting down, Jasper followed suit and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Edward put me down and took my hand, leading me over to them. He settled on the ground and leaned against the side of the boulder, bending his knees. I sat in between his legs and leaned my head on his chest, pressing my ear to his shirt and pulling my legs under me.

The sound of his breath was my very own lullaby and the cool air was peaceful. I could definitely fall asleep like this.

I nuzzled my face further into his shirt, "Talk. Keep me awake or else I'm gonna miss out on everything."

He chuckled and the movement had me shaking too. I looked up to smile at him, his expression was happy and his eyes were full of adoration. The moonlight enhanced his features even further, making them look like they truly were carved from marble. The slight breeze played with his hair, putting in silvery looking highlights, and I imagined what Edward would look like if he looked his age.

He would have wrinkles, no doubt. Maybe he would have a serious case of hair loss. Who knows, but I do know that he would be just as beautiful to me as he was now.

I kissed the upturned corner of his mouth, "I love you."

He returned my kiss with an even stronger force, "Love you more." I smiled into the kiss, consumed with love and bliss. When I pulled away, I leaned my head back on the juncture between his chest and shoulder, playing with the collar of his plain, leather jacket.

I leaned up to whisper in his ear, "Is it okay if we sleep at my house tonight?"

He leaned his head down to whisper in my ear, "Of course it is love, but would it be rude if I ask you why?" His words tickled my neck and goose bumps arose wherever his cool breath touched. I shivered in reaction and he pulled me tighter to him.

"Honestly, Edward? Your room doesn't have a bed."

His silent laughter shook my body along with his. "If I buy a bed, would you sleep at my house then?"

I laughed into his ear, "Absolutely."

As we pulled back to smile at each other, the ground shook slightly underneath us and in a flash, the wolves were in the clearing with us. Edward got up, pulling me up with him and walked over to Esme and Carlisle who were closest to the wolves. I sat down beside Alice and Jasper, Alice resting her head on my shoulder. I ran my fingers through her spiky, soft bob. Rosalie and Emmett stayed where they were, too.

Carlisle spoke up in an authoritive, but cool voice, "You wished to speak to us?"

Edward spoke up before Sam had time to turn around and morph back into human form. "He wants to go over the treaty once more."

The hulking black wolf narrowed his dark eyes in a very human gesture, looking almost demonic in the setting. Edward's lip twitched with humor as he read Sam's thoughts. He nodded his head.

He rearranged his vocal cords and spoke in Sam's voice, "We just wanted to remind you of the treaty, about how the treaty says you cannot _bite,_ not _kill, _but not_ bite _a human and blah, blah, blah." At the end, Edward changed his voice back to normal.

Carlisle shot Edward a look and bopped him on the back of his head. Edward rubbed the spot and muttered something.

Alice was practically in stitches by now, completely collapsing in between Jasper and me. I couldn't help but giggle at the looks on the wolves' faces.

Carlisle turned back to the wolves to smile apologetically, "Please excuse my son. Apparently, teenagers don't change, even after a hundred years. " He glared at his son, Edward shrugged and smiled angelically. Carlisle rolled his eyes and turned to face the wolves again, "Is that all, then?"

Sam gave a grunt and Edward translated, "The red-head vampire is ours; we don't want any interferences." Even as Edward spoke the words, his jaw clenched and unclenched in anger.

Carlisle said, "That's not your problem anymore, we will handle her."

The wolves gave growls that I felt all the way from over here. Edward didn't find it all impressive and responded with a snarl; "They say that she was on their territory so _Victoria_," he spit, "is all theirs."

Carlisle shook his head, "We'll see about that. Is that all?"

Sam swiveled his gigantic head, still looking aggravated, and turned around to leave. Jacob stared at Edward and then at me and left, too. Each of the others slowly left, one-by-one, taking a quick glance at me before leaving as well. Embry was the last to leave, staring at me for a long time before taking a deliberate step towards me, halting when Edward tensed. I gave Bree a small smile and he left too after sending one last sad glance to me.

It's not that I was okay with the wolves now basically having removed themselves from my life; it's just that if I were to pick between _anyone _and Edward, it would _always _be Edward. He _is_ my life.

Edward walked over to me as soon as they all were gone and hoisted me up on his back. We bid goodbye to his family and sped off toward my house.

I left Edward lying on my bed and went through my nightly routine, dressing in my Dad's old Police Academy t-shirt. As I exited the bathroom, I spotted something furry near my bedroom door. "Oh, my God!" I scooped it into my arms, "Snowbell! How did I forget you?" I walked into the bedroom to find Edward just as I left him.

"Edward?"

"Hmm?" He looked up.

I frowned down at the fat, white cat snuggled in my arms, "I completely forgot about Snowbell."

Edward sat up and rolled his eyes; he never did particularly like my cat. "Bella, darling, you are only human. And I can be a little distracting at times," he waggled his eyebrows.

"You can," I admitted. He always was. "But I feel so guilty now. I completely forgot all about my baby." I kissed his furry head and felt him purr.

"Don't worry about it," Edward leaned against my headboard as I sat down next to him on the bed. "I fed him this morning and left enough food for the rest of the day." I looked at him incredulously. "I forgot to tell you," he said defensively. "You were being distracting, too. Remember?" I blushed as I was reminded of my state of undress this morning. I changed the subject.

"That was a very human stunt you pulled back there."

He sighed and smiled lazily at me. "Nothing gets past you. And thank you; that was the plan." I raised my eyebrows. "They think of us as nothing but scum, I thought that if we showed them that we can act human, they would respect us just a little more. Respect our relationship a little more."

I felt myself begin to melt and put Snowbell down next to my bed so that I could snuggle up against Edward. "You wanted them to respect us more so that they would accept me again."

He nodded his head.

I kissed him, "You are so sweet. I love you, Edward."

"Love you too, Bella."

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**A/N: Okay so those of you who have read my other fanfics know that I have used Snowbell in almost all my fanfics. I don't know why, but I always wanted Bella to have a cat.**

**Second of all, I made Embry gay cause he never imprinted on anyone and I didn't feel like making someone up for him.**

**Reviews Please!**


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5-

The next couple of days passed by like a blur and before I knew it, it was the Friday before Spring Break.

Alice finally found out why she wasn't able to see my future before after much experimenting on our part. Apparently she couldn't see the future of the wolves and anyone who's future was tied with them. Carlisle had a theory about that. He told us that Alice could only see the futures of her kind. Because she's a vampire, she can see their futures clearly, humans are a bit foggy though, because she isn't currently one but used to be. Werewolves were out of the question since she never was one and most likely never will be one.

Alice also filled me in on what she found out since the Cullens had left; her full name was Mary Alice Brandon and she had a little sister name Cynthia. Cynthia had a daughter who was alive and well and was living in Biloxi. She told me she found her grave and the asylum where they put her; she seemed uncomfortable mentioning it all so I moved on to a lighter topic to discuss.

When Carlisle went to the hospital to get back his job, Forks became swarmed with rumors about the Cullens. I didn't pay any attention to them. But when Jessica asked me at school about them, I gave her the story that they were telling everyone; Esme missed the quaint little town and city life just didn't suit any of the Cullens. She found it hard to believe, but didn't bother me anymore.

It was hard for me to go through school knowing that Edward and Alice were just a car ride away, but I sucked it up knowing I would get to sleep in Edward's arms every night. Utter bliss, I tell you.

Edward had told me that when he left, he had hid all my birthday presents underneath my floorboards; Alice and Edward's CD and CD player, Esme and Carlisle's first edition classic books and the blank journal, and Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett's doll hose: a miniature replica of the Cullen household complete with Cullen furniture and dolls.

I was in the girl's locker room, changing clothes, rushing because I would get to see Edward in a mere few minutes. I had been a little annoyed because Mike had attempted to point out things in my relationship with Edward that I wasn't aware of – because it was a load of bullshit! But all that evaporated as I thought of how Edward was probably waiting for me right outside the school to pick me up.

I took off my shirt as I walked to my locker and pulled my pants down, dropping them on the bench next to me and began decoding my lock. My locker was one of the lockers that you saw once you stepped in the room. I picked it because it saved me a minute with Edward; I didn't have to walk all the way to the back to find it and then walk all the way back to the door to get out.

The screams started the moment I opened my locker door. I spun around to find out why all the girls were screaming and saw Mike frozen halfway into the doorway. My shriek joined the other high-pitched shouts and I quickly pulled my gym shirt to cover me. When the coaches arrived to see why we were screaming, they dragged Mike out by his ear, his face as red as a tomato.

Our screams stopped as abruptly as they began and embarrassed giggles escaped before we could stop them. I quickly dressed and rushed out of the school, still chuckling awkwardly and feeling slightly exposed.

I walked over to the silver Volvo parked on the other side of the street, Edward leaning against his car, looking kind of stiff.

"Hey." I said weakly.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked in a concerned voice.

"Yeah, I will be."

He nodded and then glared at the school before guiding me to the passenger side. "I could kill Newton right about now."

I choked out a laugh, "You heard?"

His lip twitched. Of course he heard, super-vampire hearing and the ability to read all minds in a two-mile radius (except for mine), duh Bella.

I sat down and he leaned in, resting his forearms on the roof and the door. "Don't worry about it, love. He didn't see anything. Well, he saw Courtney, but that's about it. He didn't look anywhere else."

I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. "Why was he in there in the first place?"

Edward smirked down at me. "He was a little upset that you were so adamant about our relationship. He wasn't exactly thinking straight."

I sighed and uncrossed my arms, resting my hands in my lap. I felt a cool hand lift my head up. "Hey," Edward frowned down at me. "What's wrong?"

I grimaced. "So is it my fault that Mike saw all tho – Courtney, then?"

"Of course not," he scoffed. "It's his fault for not being able to read signs."

I nodded, "Okay." Edward looked at me for a second longer before shutting my door and walking over to the driver side, apparently satisfied with whatever he saw on my face.

We drove in silence for a while before, "So. Did _you_ see Courtney?"

He glanced over at me amused, "Nah. He was just thinking her name and I got out of his head before he could think about what color bra she had on."

I nodded, pursing my lips. His hand came over to grasp mine. "So," he said after a beat. "Spring Break's finally here. What do you want to do?"

"I'm not sure yet," I mused. "Honestly, I want to get the shit load of homework I got done before doing anything else."

"Uh-uh. We're going to my house now and you are going to relax this weekend. Maybe you can get your shit load of homework done on Monday."

"Sure. Why not?" The idea of relaxing was a lot more tempting if I were to be sincere.

When we entered the house, it was completely empty save for Esme who went straight to work cooking yet another meal for me. I had tried to tell her it wasn't necessary, but she replied by telling me that it was fun and it was something that she missed doing. I just can't say no to that.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Carlisle is at work, and the others are out hunting." Edward said as he led me up to his room.

"Edward," I said in mock outrage. "We're in your room alone. Unsupervised! My father is going to have a fit when he finds out."

He smirked my favorite crooked smile at me as he set our bags down in a corner, "He doesn't have to find out." A thrill ran through me and my belly turned warm with anticipation. Edward walked over to me and sat us down on his black couch. "I missed you," he whispered before attacking my lips. I gasped and tangled my fingers in his hair and pulled his face closer to mine. Our lips moved with a synchronization and frenzy that was too delicious and incredible to explain with mere words. I felt so dirty doing this while his mother was downstairs cooking me dinner; but at the same time it felt so right.

He pressed me into his couch, pushing his hard, defined body onto mine in the most amazing of ways. As always, he pulled away way too soon for my liking. We rested our foreheads together and panted harshly, trying to catch our breaths. Mike's little stunt was completely forgotten as I looked into Edward's eyes, like aged whiskey with the gold so dark from love and lust.

I pressed my lips to his once more before pushing him off of me and straightening out my clothes.

I leaned into his side and we sat silently next to one another, enjoying our closeness. There were so many problems that we faced right now, Victoria, the werewolves, and then there was my life. I wanted to become a vampire, too. But there was no way that I would upset Edward with that now. We had just gotten each other back. Maybe after things cooled down a bit, I would ask him about it.

For now, I just wanted to lie in his arms.

"Hey Bella?"

"Hmm?"

"Could you…I mean, I know this is kind of random, but could you tell me how you found out about the wolves?"

I looked up at him and studied the worry in his eyes. I frowned, "Has this been troubling you for a while?"

"Yeah, I guess. It's just that, I know you said that they never hurt you, but you seemed just so calm when you saw them in the clearing that night."

Oh. "You're wondering if any of the wolves had ever phased in front of me. In other words you want to know if that's how I found out about them."

He hesitated, and then finally nodded.

I pursed my lips and decided to tell him the whole story.

_I was so angry that day because Jacob had been so distant to the point that he actually started sounding like _I _had done something wrong. I was going out to my cousins' that night. They lived in Seattle on a little farm so I put on some shorts and a plaid, flannel shirt on so that I would be in comfy clothes when they threw any amount of physical labor my way._

_When I parked in front of Jake's house, I saw a curtain drop in the window and my eyes narrowed. I stomped over to the door in my trusty hiking boots and rapped on the door. Billy had answered and told me that Jacob wasn't there to which I replied, "Fine, then I'll wait out here for him."_

_I had waited an entire _hour_ for Jake to show his face and was doing some homework to pass the time when a knock on my window startled me out of Calculus. Jake was there along with all those buddies of his looking kind of annoyed and that just fueled the fire that was already driving me insane. I glared murderously at him and with pleasure saw his eyes widen for a second before his hard mask replaced his shock. I threw my books down and opened my door, stepping into the light rain wearing only my shirt and the stupid shorts. _

_Jake's normal friendly smile was gone and so was his long hair. The warmth in his eyes had morphed into a dark anger. _

"_What do you want?" Jake demanded with a resentment that had dread crawling up my spine._

"_I need to talk to you," I hissed. _

"_Go ahead," he said through clenched teeth. _

"_Alone!" I growled out. The others behind him didn't turn to leave. I sighed in frustration and grasped Jacob's hand, leading him into the woods, slightly surprised that he would actually follow me after the way he was acting. _

_I stopped when I was sure we were out of the others' hearing range and that they couldn't see us._

"_Well?" Jacob crossed his arms and glared down at me. _

"_What the hell is your problem, Jake? One minute you're all smiley asking me if I had anything to eat yet, and the next, you act completely hostile towards me!" I looked at him incredulously. "Is it something I did? Something I said?"_

_He softened immediately, but the bitterness never left his eyes. "No, B. Don't think like that. You didn't do anything."_

"_Then what's going on? I'm here for you, Jake. Whatever you need, we're friends, remember?" I took a step towards him, and he took one back. I took that time to notice how fast and lithe he was when just a few days ago, he stumbling over his own two feet, just as clumsy as I had been._

"_I can't, B. I'm sorry."_

"_Damnit Jake! Then who am I supposed to blame for this, then, huh?" I shouted in anger at him. The next thing that happened completely took me off guard._

"_Blame those filthy bloodsuckers of yours! If it weren't for them, none of this would've happened!" I froze on spot as Jacob flailed his arms and then hit a skinny sapling next him; the trunk broke in half. _

_Jacob's shock at what he did quickly turned to horror as he saw the tree fall down with a creaking sound. _

_Everything made sense to me then. I had a flashback of the day at the beach, when he told me about vampires and werewolves, about how the Quileutes morphed into wolves when the time came to protect their village from vampires. I shook with some kind of emotion, I still don't know what it was, whether it was relief, fear or the long day weighing heavily on my shoulders, but the emotion was soon placed with a strong sense of calm._

"_I see." _

_Jacob's head snapped to mine. "See what?"_

_I shook my head and bit my lip. "I get it now. I just…I just need to think about for a while. I'm going to be at my cousins' this weekend. I'll see you on Monday, okay? We'll talk it out when I come back."_

_Hope started pooling in his eyes, but he still looked guarded. "Talk what out?"_

_We walked back to my car as I rolled my eyes at him, starting to shiver because I was practically soaked to the bone, "Jacob, I've just spent an entire year of my life with mythical creatures. Don't think I can't recognize a werewolf when I see one." I left him there, his mouth hanging open in shock as I drove away._

I looked up expectantly at Edward.

He gave a half-laugh, "What do you want me to say? Honestly, I think I'm struck speechless right about now. Congratulations, Bella. You're the first human in history to make a vampire speechless."

* * *

**A/N: Ok, a few things here:**

**1. I don't like the ending comment Edward made in this chapter but i can't possibly figure what he would have said otherwise.**

**2. I got very few reviews from the last chappy. I'm assuming it wasn't all that interesting?**

**3. Finals week is coming up and i need to start studying so I'm only going to be updating on Saturdays from now on.**

**4. REVIEWS PLZ! **

**- TXML**


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6-

I was about to open my mouth to retort when Esme called for dinner. We walked hand in hand downstairs to find that Alice had returned from hunting and was sitting in a love seat, watching the TV with a bored expression on her face.

When we plopped down on the couch next to her, her face lightened up like a kid on Christmas. This was a regular occurrence that was slowly becoming traditional in the Cullen household. Edward and I would spend about an hour to ourselves before joining the family in the living area where I would get some sort of food from Esme and usually be dragged up to Alice's room where Alice and I would chat for the rest of the day until I went home.

I graciously accepted Esme's homemade Chinese food and obligingly followed Alice up to her room after a quick peck on the cheek to Edward. As I nibbled on a leg of fried chicken, Alice walked over to her desk to bring her laptop over to the bed where I was sitting. She started it up and by now she would be spouting away at whatever, but now I noticed how her lips were slightly puckered and her eyebrows were furrowed.

"Alice?" She turned her head towards me and her face smoothed out into a slightly fake smile. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fi– " She stopped when she saw the warning look on my face. "No seriously," she insisted. "I'm fine. It's Jasper who's not okay."

I cocked my head, "Jasper?"

"Yeah." She nodded and looked down. "He still feels guilty after what happened on your birthday."

I stared surprised at her, "But that wasn't his faul– "

"I know. I told him. He doesn't believe me, though." Her shoulders slumped.

"What happened?" I rubbed her shoulder.

"There was a slight strain in our relationship when Edward left you. Jasper was feeling guilty and he sort of shut everyone off because nobody was really happy and his guilt became our guilt. On top of that, I was being slightly secretive, hiding my need to check on you from everyone, including him. We talked that out just an hour ago, but he's still hurting, Bella. And I don't know what to do." Her voice cracked at the end and I felt a surge of sympathy towards her and Jasper.

I squeezed her shoulder, meaning to be comforting and reassuring. "Don't worry your pretty little head over it, Alice. I'll talk to him."

She looked up at me with hopeful eyes, "You will? You would do that?"

"Of course I would! Not just because you're my sister, but also because I need to set this straight, it's actually personal." I frowned. "In fact, I should have talked to him sooner."

"Oh, thank you Bella!" She threw her tiny arms around my neck and squeezed hard. "You're the best sister ever." Then she froze and pulled away. She wagged a finger at me, "Don't tell Rosalie I said that; she'd rip both our heads off."

I laughed and nodded. We went back downstairs, Alice bringing her laptop with her. Carlisle had arrived and we stopped to say hi to him before resuming our original positions. I finished off my dinner just as Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper walked through the door.

I was a little nervous to be honest, because I had no idea of how to broach the subject, so I just winged it.

"Hey Jasper?" I asked as I got off Edward's lap. He turned his head to me and I caught sight of his surprised expression before it relaxed into a puzzled smile.

"Yes, Bella?"

"Could we talk for a moment?" I nervously clasped my hand behind my back and played with my fingers. Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper looked at me shocked. Alice gave me an encouraging smile and Edward touched my clasped hands in reassurance. He probably skimmed through Alice's mind while she was sitting here.

"Umm," Jasper shot a look at Edward. Edward smiled and nodded, albeit a little reluctantly. Jasper turned to me again, "Okay."

I lead him outside and to the cars. He walked over to a sleek black Lincoln and opened the passenger side for me; I smiled at how this gesture reminded me of Edward. He walked over to the driver's side, after pulling out of the driveway and onto the road, he asked, "Where to?'

I shrugged. "Wherever you want is fine."

"How about a drive through Port Angeles?" He inquired.

I nodded, "Sounds good."

We drove in silence for a while, neither of us exactly comfortable. I had never really spent all that much time with Jasper, rarely talked to him either. We both felt awkward, and my awkwardness was just absorbed by him and then cycled back to me so that we were in this never ending sequence of unease.

When we passed by the school, Jasper finally spoke up, "I bet Alice sent you to talk to me."

I was taken aback, "How can you say that? Alice didn't ask me to do anything."

"Then why are you here, Bella?"

I sighed. "I can't just want talk to you?"

He grimaced, "Sorry, but no. You never made the attempt before and I don't see why you are now."

"Maybe because I want to get to know you, you ever considered that?" I felt annoyed and I'm sure he could feel it, too.

"No I haven't considered that because if you wanted to just get to know me, then we could've talked back at the house, no problem."

"Okay," I said in defeat. "Alice told me that you still feel guilty about what happened on my birthday."

"I knew it."

"_But_, I came here out of my own accord." I insisted.

"After hearing her say that."

"Yes, okay, after hearing her say that, but I would've talked to you sooner or later, Jasper."

"I find that hard to believe." This guy was really starting to get on my nerves.

"Jasper," I sighed. "I didn't come here to argue with you."

"No, you came here to console me; to tell me that what happened on your birthday wasn't my fault."

"That's exactly what I'm here for."

Jasper groaned and pulled over to the side of the road. "I need some air," he muttered as he got out of the car and slammed the door shut. He walked over to a flat looking boulder at the tree line that separated the road from the woods and sat down.

I grimaced; this was not how I wanted this to go. I unbuckled my seatbelt and joined him, sitting myself down next to him and staring at the vacant road as darkness began to settle around us.

Jasper leaned over, resting his elbows on his knees and squinted, "I'm sorry I'm being so difficult, but I just don't understand you. How can you forgive me for that incident? You almost lost your life that day, Bella."

"There is nothing to forgive," I hissed. I bet this was some sort of pattern in the Cullen family. "You may not understand me, but I understand why you did what you did."

"Because I'm weak," he said lowly. There was a sadness emanating from him and it was weird seeing him like this. I had always seen Jasper as indifferent, very calm, emotional never.

I put my hand on his shoulder the same way I did to comfort Alice. He stiffened at first, but then relaxed after a beat. "You aren't weak, Jasper. Please believe me when I say that."

"Why should I?" He said miserably.

I sucked in a deep breath and let it out through my nose. "Hear me out. Listen to my perspective of things and maybe then you'll see." He didn't move from his position, but he did look at me from the corner of his eye. "Jasper, you're an empath; that day _everyone_ was feeling bloodlust and you know it. I know that out of all the Cullens, you have the hardest time adjusting to this lifestyle, but that doesn't make you weak. I know that you have tasted human blood countless times before, and you think that's why you have a hard time, but that's not the case either.

You have to deal with your bloodlust, as well as everyone else's; the built up amount of that bloodlust must be excruciating, though I shouldn't be talking 'cause I have no idea." I shook my head. "My point is it's not your fault that you couldn't control yourself that day, and it's not your fault that Edward made the decision to leave. Sure the incident was a factor, but I have a feeling Edward would've left me sooner or later.

I think it's awesome that you can actually stay calm in a room full humans with your family feeling what they do and piling it up on you." I said referring to school.

I couldn't think of anything else to say and he didn't bother filling in the silence. He stared down at his hands, I hoped that he was thinking about what I said and that he hadn't just ignore me throughout my little speech.

I started to feel anxious and twitched my hands in my lap, he felt it and finally stood up, "I'll think about what you said. Thanks for talking to me, Bella."

I stood up, too. "I hope that we can be friends, Jasper. I really would like to get to know you. It would probably be a smart move on my part to get to know my boyfriend's brother a little more," I smiled sheepishly.

His lip twitched up in response and he led me to the car with a hand on the small of my back, "Do you want me to drop you off at our house or at yours?"

I yawned, "Mine, please. I bet five bucks Alice already saw us coming and Edward is already in my bed waiting for me."

"Ew," he winced. "Not an image I would've liked to have implanted in my brain. Thanks a lot Bella." I whacked his arm playfully and he grinned down at me. Things were still a little awkward and tense between us but I had a feeling that this should be the start of a beautiful friendship.

* * *

**A/N: Yay! So I have no school today because the upperclassmen are taking the Regents today so yes! I have some free time!**

**So what do you think? I honestly believe this was one of Stephanie Meyer's major flaws; not including a little bonding time between Bella and Jasper.**

**Review Please!**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7-

The weekend flew by at a ridiculous rate. I spent all of Saturday at the Cullen house and had the time of my life. Jasper was slowly becoming more and more of a friend to me and now there was a clear air that wafted over the house whenever he was there. The only thing that could possibly have made it better was if the wolves were there.

Edward, I knew, could see how sad I was because of my friends' absences. I'm pretty sure everyone knew, though, all of that was forgotten the moment Emmett pulled Edward and me outside to the back of the house to 'talk' with us. I had assumed it was something very important because of the grave expression he wore, Edward was suspicious because Emmett was keeping his thoughts to himself.

Emmett turned to us, and asked for Edward to stay where he was in the back driveway while Emmett and I talked out some problem of his. I became increasingly suspicious as he led me deeper into the woods, the setting seeming ominous and forlorn. I wracked my brain for something I did wrong and skimmed through the events that had occurred ever since the Cullens had come back; but I could not find anything, Emmett always seemed his joyful self.

When he turned once more to me, his grave expression morphed into that of mischief and two bloodcurdling screams could be heard in the distance. My eyes widened and my hackles rose.

Emmett said in a low, dangerous voice, "Happy late April Fools, Bella." I saw him pull on a rope that I hadn't notice next to him before everything went blue.

I felt a pressure on my head and heard a clattering of tin over the rushing in my ears as I collapsed onto the forest floor. I smelled the distinct scent of paint and closed my mouth immediately catching on and hoping I wouldn't get poisoned.

Once the pressure let up a little, I opened my eyes which had been squeezed shut to glare at Emmett who had collapsed in front of me, clutching his mid-section in hysteria as huge bellows of laughter left him. My entire being was covered in blue paint and the liquid was dripping from my hair to my clothes to debris on the ground. I looked up to see two paint cans still clattering noisily above me, completely empty connected to a rope in a simple pulley system. Emmett told me later that he chose the color blue because Edward said he liked the color on me.

Anger bubbled up in me and I stood up, growling under my breath. "Emmett McCarty Cullen," I hissed in a voice I couldn't recognize. "I. Am. Going. To. Kill. You."

He sat up, wiping an invisible tear from his eye, still laughing like crazy. "It's a bit – late for that…Bella!" He choked out in between laughs.

I huffed and stomped back to the house, hoping to maintain what dignity I had left. As I neared the house, I saw a gigantic truck in the driveway, a stricken looking Edward sitting beside it, Alice sobbing into her hands while Jasper tried his best to comfort her in front of a large fire, and Carlisle stood on the porch looking helplessly at his children.

When they heard my sloshing footsteps approach, all four looked up at me with shocked expressions. Emmett came barging through and laughed so heartily he sounded like he was choking.

"It hurts – it hur – hurts." He wheezed out. "I can't – I can't…BREATHE!" He fell into a laughing mess in the middle of all the mayhem, curling up into a ball.

I learned later that he did that as his own way of picking me out of my depression; a late April Fools day prank. He knew exactly how much Edward despised my cat and he brought a truckload of vicious white felines completely identical to Snowbell and trapped him in there. Emmett had given Jasper a bag of Alice's most prized clothes and had somehow gotten him to ignite it on fire. Poor Jasper didn't know what the hell he was doing until Alice ran out of the house, screeching like mad, but it was too late.

On Sunday he proceeded to prank Esme and Carlisle; Esme had opened the refrigerator, looking for a marinated chicken she was going to serve me for lunch and screamed for Jesus Christ as the chicken began chasing her. Carlisle had the day off and was cautiously minding his way through the house, not safe in his own home. After a while of waiting and nothing happening, he resumed his regular schedule and joined us for TV, went by to console Esme and returned to his office to finish some paper work.

When he pulled his chair out to sit, a thin, see through tube that was connected to the chair and everything on his desk, sent all his office materials flying all over the place.

Emmett didn't want to prank Rosalie so he on embarrassing the hell out of her instead. They went to Seattle, Rosalie thinking that Emmett was taking her someplace nice. When he pulled up in front of the doctor's office, she couldn't help but be confused.

Emmett went in for a physical check up and Rosalie finally realized this was a prank, but Emmett refused to let her leave. He planned on making her really embarrassed. It didn't sound too impressive at first, but I was cracking up by the time Emmett finished telling us what happened.

The nurse had told Emmett to strip down to his underwear and put on a gown. When the doctor came in, she asked Emmett if he was wearing women's underwear. Emmett replied in the positive, saying that he didn't have any clean underwear so he borrowed his girlfriend's.

"Then how do you explain the bra?" The doctor asked dryly.

Emmett scoffed and said in a 'duh' voice, "Don't be ridiculous, they match." Rosalie slapped her hand on her forehead.

"So why are you here today, Emmett?" The doctor asked, looking as if she would want to be anywhere but there.

"Well, I think my dick is too small." Rosalie moaned softly into her hands. "You have to look at it," Emmett insisted.

The doctor grimaced, "I'm sorry, but I'm not exactly licensed for that. And there really is nothing you can do about it," she said kindly to him. "There's no medication I can prescribe for you." After a bit more of mortifying Rosalie, Emmett finally relented and agreed to go home.

Emmett had taped each and every single prank and posted it up on . The video was a hit and had more than a million views.

Alice and I were scrolling through the comments on Monday morning while I ate some oatmeal Esme made for me. We were laughing at a particularly sleazy response to Emmett's check up when Alice stopped abruptly and got sucked into a vision.

Her ocher eyes glazed out of focus and her lips parted. She stayed like that for about ten seconds before snapping out of it and shaking her head a little.

"Alice?" I questioned.

She grimaced, "Tanya is coming to the house."

* * *

**A/N: A little short, I know, but I want to keep you guys in suspense for Tanya's arrival ;)**

**Most likely won't be able to update next Saturday 'cause I'm gonna be studying my ass off for my Bio and Algebra finals, but after that, I have a whole week off, so expect some updates for sure next week. **

**Reviews make me really, really happy!**


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8-

"_Tanya is coming to the house."_

I cocked my head, "Tanya?"

Alice nodded in affirmative, furrowing her eyebrows, "She's one of Denalis. Remember? They're the vegetarian coven up in Alaska?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Yeah," she got up and held her hand out to me. "Come on, we have to go tell the family."

We walked down stairs to the living room and I sat down on the black couch Edward was leaning back on as he fought Emmett in a game of Halo. As he settled in between my legs, I looked over at Jasper, "Why aren't you playing?"

He turned to me with a smug look on his face, "I'm so good at this game, I've been banned from playing it."

"Don't listen to him, Bella. He's nothing but a cheating, lying, little bastard."

Jasper chuckled at his brother's arrogance, "Whatever floats your boat, Em."

We watched the television with much intensity and all cheered as Edward won, all of us except for Emmett of course.

He growled. "You're a cheating, lying, little bastard, too," Emmett shot at Edward.

My boyfriend rolled his eyes, "Don't be such a sore loser." He closed his eyes and leaned further into me as I massaged his scalp. His hair was so soft and thick; it felt like running your hands through a whole lot of downy feathers. I marveled at his bronze locks while his face set into an expression of pure content.

Jasper scooted over on the love seat as Alice came dancing into the room. She ignored the space Jasper made for her and opted instead to bounce down onto his lap.

"So," she began. "Did Bella tell you guys that Tanya's coming today?" Edward's eyes snapped open.

Emmett raised a brow, "She is? Alone?"

Alice nodded, "It would seem so. I don't know why, but I do know when. Around six-ish tonight."

Emmett grinned, "I can think of a reason she would want to come alone." He waggled his eyebrows at Edward. Edward glared back at him murderously.

"Emmett," he hissed through clenched teeth. My massaging did nothing to relax his tense body.

"What?" Emmett asked defensively. "I think Bella has a right to know what's gonna happen when Miss. Tanya arrives."

I furrowed my brows and looked down at Edward, "Why? What's gonna happen?"

"Nothing love," Edward said reassuringly. I heard Jasper snicker and I stared at him, demanding some kind of explanation.

"Tanya has been chasing after Edward ever since she met him," Jasper clarified. My hands paused their ministrations on Edward's hair. "She never did anything. But only because Edward never let her."

I frowned down at my boyfriend, my hair creating a curtain to conceal ourselves into a little bubble, "And exactly how many other females am I gonna have to worry about hanging all over you?"

Edward sighed and rubbed my knee, "You're getting worked up over nothing. Tanya isn't as bad as these goons make her out to be."

"Yeah," Emmett piped up. "She's worse."

Edward turned to his brother and gave him such an icy glare I was surprised Emmett didn't just freeze. He turned back to me once he was satisfied with Emmett's silence, "You have _nothing_ to worry about. She may be a bit difficult at first, but I bet it'll be because you're human, not because I love you." He paused to kiss my knee. "And even if she starts to give you a hard time, you just give the signal and we'll go straight to your house."

I contemplated for a minute and smiled, satisfied for now. The next few hours were spent cozying up in the den with the family. Alice had offered to play against Emmett and was currently whipping his ass.

Jasper was reading a novel I had recommended to him and seemed to be immersed in the text. I had just finished off my supper and Edward was helping me with my homework, we didn't get much done, though. We kept distracting each other with random topics of conversation until I finally gave up on homework and snuggled up with him on the couch near the fireplace.

Watching Edward laugh at his siblings' antics as the fire played with his features, the wolves, Jake, Embry, Tanya and Victoria just seemed to vanish. I felt at peace, at home, it sent a tingly spark skidding through my body and I smiled up at Edward. I could stay with him, here, forever. I really, really wanted to. I wanted to stay by his side and laugh with him, laugh with our family and be able to watch his face without interruption.

I wanted forever with him.

The force of my epiphany had me reeling and my heart thudded painfully in my chest as my head whirled with the vigor of my conviction.

Edward looked back down at me, still chuckling and noticed my serene smile.

"What?" he mouthed at me.

I shook my head and smiled even bigger at him, "I love you." I mouthed back at him.

He beamed down at me with his crooked smile that he knew for a fact melted me off my bones. "I love you, too," he said aloud.

I rested my head in the crook of his neck, sighing with bliss.

I caught Jasper's eye and he gave me a smile and a thumbs up. I giggled into Edward's neck.

The doorbell rang and Esme rose from her perch on the sofa next to Carlisle to answer it.

Emmett paused the game and turned to me. "Get ready," he mouthed. I tensed as I remembered our conversation from earlier, Edward rubbed my back to sooth my muscles into relaxing.

I squeezed his hand and got off of his lap, sitting next to him and curling my legs underneath me. I didn't want to seem too possessive or anything. Vampire seductress or not, I was determined to be as polite as possible.

When Esme returned, a statuesque strawberry blonde, her hair almost the same color as Edward's, followed her in. Her skin was an ethereal pale, her eyes a glinting honey, just like the rest of the Cullens'. And she was just as beautiful as they were, if not, even more. Her features were sharp and angular, her lashes were heavy and flirty, her mouth puckered into a permanent pout. Her hair was long and it fell just past her hips in a waterfall of waves. Her body was curvy and she was maybe an inch taller than Rosalie. She looked to be maybe in her mid-twenties, but I knew she had to be even older than Carlisle.

The family welcomed her warmly, and when she turned to greet Edward, I saw her eyes flicker from lust to surprise, "And who do we have here?" Her voice was liquid and smooth, accented by a region I couldn't identify.

I held out my hand to her in a formal greeting that had survived the ages, "Bella Swan." She took my hand into her cool one and smiled a friendly smile at me.

"Tanya Denali." She looked questioningly at Edward as she released my hand.

"She's my mate," Edward answered her unspoken question with a smile in his voice. Tanya's smile melted off her face for a second before reappearing, more forced and less genuine this time.

"Is that so? But a _human_, Edward?" She said the word with a slight malice to it.

He shrugged, "Mates come in all forms, shapes and sizes. Just look at Emmett." Jasper almost fell off his seat in laughter as he took in Emmett's expression; Rosalie smirked and looked away.

"_Dude_," Emmett whined, not appreciating being picked on.

Tanya rolled her eyes and perched gracefully atop the armrest Edward had been leaning on. "But darling, a _human_? Really?" She completely ignored my presence and I decided I might not exactly like her anymore. She fluttered her lashes and smiled a slow, seductive smile at _my_ Edward, placing her perfectly manicured fingers on his shoulder. "You don't see anyone a little more…appetizing?" Okay, I am seriously edging towards HATE now.

Edward snorted and gently shrugged her hand off of him. "You have no idea. Bella happens to be the most appetizing woman to me ever." He looked down at me and smirked lightly, his hair falling into eyes that glinted with naughtiness, making him look like a roguish feline. He looked so handsome and mischievous at that moment, my breath caught in my throat. "In more ways than one," he breathed, the light throwing glowing orbs of a lighter color of his already topaz irises into his eyes.

My lips curled up and I felt my eyes glaze over, my eyelids drooping. I felt the heat rise up and spread over my cheeks…and I heard Edward stop breathing and saw his eyes widen as he stared at me.

"Beautiful," he said so lowly he basically mouthed it.

Jasper coughed, "Whipped." That broke our little bubble and we turned slowly from each other to glare at him; he smiled innocently. From my peripheral vision I could see Tanya glowering at me and could feel the holes she was burning into the side of my head.

The entire rest of the evening was spent with Edward batting away Tanya's advances using me as his shield and weapon. The more the night grew, the more Tanya and I grew to loathe each other. Oh, yes: LOATHE. I was way beyond hate at this point.

I had tried to stay calm throughout the entire ordeal, but there times that I desperately needed Jasper to cool my temper. When Tanya tried getting Edward alone with her, I put my foot down and announced that I was tired and wished to go home. I could endure another woman making moves on my man because I trusted him, but even he wasn't strong enough to stop a disaster from happening; simply because he was too much of a gentleman.

I trust my Edward; it's the single, one-track minded women that I don't trust.

When we bid everyone goodnight, Tanya's glare was full on me, sending shivers down my spine. There was just something about it that had the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end. It creeped me out to, but not enough for me to tattle.

I went through my routine and cuddled up to Edward after kissing Snowbell goodnight. Ever since Emmett's pranks, Edward had a certain phobia when it came to white cats and I had to move Snowbell's makeshift bed into Charlie's room; I had no idea how I was going to explain that to him when he came back.

Speaking of Charlie, I had called him yesterday and he was being hung up there because the officers he went to substitute had gotten caught in a flood that was brought on by the April showers and were currently grounded at the station at some place in Spokane. So he was going to be a little late, the thought saddened me.

Edward rubbed my back and hummed my lullaby in my ear as I drifted off to sleep.

Tuesday passed by somewhat slowly, Tanya had left during the night and I was thrilled, but the dread I had felt that night still lurked in the shadows of my mind. Persistent it was most definitely, Jasper had questioned me more than once on my emotional state, and I had answered fine on all accounts.

We both knew that I was lying.

When we arrived at the house on Wednesday, the whole family sat on chairs at the patio, light bags beside them. I felt chills start to wrack my body as we exited the car, Edward stiff next to me, his expression furious.

"How did this happen?" He yelled out. The abrupt change in noise level had me cringing away from him. He pulled me back to him and buried his fingers in my hair without looking at me.

"Edward, calm down." Alice approached him cautiously like you would a caged lion. Jasper was right behind her, flickering his eyes back and forth in between his wife and his brother.

"Calm down? You want me to _calm down_?"

"Yes I do," Alice glared maliciously at him. "You're scaring Bella." Edward snapped his head toward me and took in my wide eyes and unusually pale exterior no doubt.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. His fingers caressed my face tenderly, as if I would break any second. I smiled shakily at him in what I hoped to be reassurance. I looked over at Alice.

"What's going on?"

She sighed, rubbing her hands over her eyes, looking very tired. "We've been called to the Volturi."


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9-

We were on board the fastest flight to Volterra, Italy. The Volturi had summoned all of us, which meant me too. Edward was adamant that I shouldn't go; he threw several fits on the way, and it took every single one of us to restrain him. He sat next to my window seat, sagging in his seat in defeat. I had unbuckled my belt and lifted up the armrest as soon as the sign that said we could do so flashed, putting Edward's head in my lap in an act of comfort.

He shook his head angrily, murmuring to himself about how I was comforting him when _he_ should be comforting _me_. And he promptly put my head in his lap. I couldn't complain about that, his lap was far more comfortable than the plane's gaudy seats.

I had called my Dad to tell him that the Cullens were taking me camping in Montana for a few days; he wasn't all that thrilled about it at first, but Carlisle soon coaxed him into the idea, convincing him that Edward and I would _not_ be sharing a tent. I talked to my Dad longer than usual that day; I didn't know when I was coming back, or if I was coming back at all. Edward felt so guilty about how things turned out, I could see the wheels turning in his brain as he tried to find a scenario in which we could all escape...alive.

I noticed that Rosalie kept shooting me glares the entire ride to the airport, and she never stopped when we boarded the plane either. The more glares she shot at me, the more remorseful I became; if it wasn't for me, the Cullens wouldn't be in this situation. Jasper sat right behind me on the left side of the plane, and whenever he felt the guilt begin to rise back up, he would slither his hand into the little space there was between my seat and the window and would squeeze my ankle, emanating a soothing calm that was much needed. I would reach my hand down to squeeze his in thanks.

Alice had filled me in on the Volturi during the car ride, I knew bits and pieces about them from past references, but I never knew they were that malicious and bloodthirsty. All my emotions overwhelmed me, and I closed my eyes and thought of happier things to occupy myself with.

The meals I helped prepare with Emily for the wolves, the way they acted with one another, a couple of jokesters always tackling each other. I realized with a shock now that they acted much like wolf cubs would, always play fighting and testing out their teeth.

I remembered my visits to my cousins in Seattle, they were even more perky and outrageous than Alice, dare I say it. Our fathers had named us accordingly so that we would all match; I still don't get it though. Cinderella, yes they had the nerve to actually name her after the Disney princess, the oldest out of all of us, was married and happily settling down with her husband down in California. I hadn't seen her in a long time so Ezmerella, or Emerald as she liked to be called, showed me a picture that Cindy had sent. She looked so happy and she looked like she completely belonged there, her long, honey blonde hair fluttering in the breeze as she grinned and latched on to the arm of Rodney, his black hair falling into bright blue eyes that crinkled at the edges whenever he smiled.

Emerald was a total opposite of her grounded and logical older sister, she dropped out of college as soon as she realized her dream to be a rock star and died her hair a beautiful green to match her name. She was a _lot_ like my mother; she certainly was just as eccentric, if not, more so. Amarelle or Amy, another grounded cousin, pursued her dreams of becoming a lawyer so I never really got to see much of her either. My most favorite cousin in the whole wide world, though, was Elizabelle, she was just two and a half months older than me and we were like close sisters.

She always has an optimistic attitude and loves helping around their farm in Seattle. She does home schooling, so she's around more than her sisters are. She actually really resembles Alice if you ever gave her freckles, wide blue eyes, and a pink cowgirl hat. Her parents had gifted the hat to her as a joke, but she never took it off unless she really had to, she told me it was like her own little security blanket.

Then I remembered my mother. I recalled all the great times we had together, some memories were blurred because of the years and that pricked frustrated tears into my eyes. Then I remembered her life before she died, after she had been told she had breast cancer. I was too young to understand what the doctors had described back then, but I remember that in the end, they said there was nothing else that could be done.

My mother was such a carefree person; she stayed optimistic and even smiled as she died. I remember when they buried her in Forks Cemetery, it was too much for me so I asked Dad if I could go live in New York with a cousin from Mom's side of the family; Audrey Dwyer. Audrey became my mother since the, supporting me in any way she could, keeping me happy when she saw me begin to wilt in sadness.

She had done so much for me, when she became married, I decided to do something for her and left for Forks so that she could live happily ever after with her husband.

And then after coming back home to Forks, I met Edward.

I sighed in happiness and a cool hand stroked my hair away from my face, I opened my eyes to see Edward smiling down at me. I beamed up at him from my position in his lap, happy to see him finally smiling.

"Not that I'm complaining, " he said lowly, not wanting to disturb the others on the plane. "But what's got you so happy? Is Jasper fiddling with your emotions again?"

I chuckled and heard a similar sound coming from behind our seats. "No, he isn't," I reached up to trace his lips, loving the smooth texture of them. His lips seemed to be the softest part of his body. "I was just remembering something." I frowned at his lips, "There are times when I wish that you could read my mind." He closed his eyes and leaned into my touch, I leaned up to peck his mouth once before fully sitting up in my seat.

"Hey," he complained. "I wasn't done with you just yet." I grinned up at him and stretched, exaggerating my yawn.

"Too bad for you. I'm way too tired, we can pick up after I've had a nap." I snuggled into my seat and rested my head on a pillow, relaxing my eyelids and keeping my eyeballs still so that it would seem like I really was sleeping.

I heard him huff and it got a little cooler as he leaned closer to me, "You think after all this time watching you sleep, I wouldn't be able to tell if you were faking or not, Isabella?"

I kept still, hoping my ploy would work. In a matter of seconds he had me giggling and gasping as he tickled me without mercy. He joined in with my laughter and all of our problems seemed to melt away, for the time being. It was just Edward and I now.

Jasper stood up and leaned his head over the seats, "Quiet you guys. If you keep on laughing like that, how am I supposed to concentrate on my movie?" He had on the headphones supplied by the plane, but was grinning with laughter too.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "You're just jealous cause we're having more fun than you," I taunted.

"Oh, yeah? Well then, I'll just have to create my own fun," his head disappeared and it wasn't long before we heard Alice shrieking with laughter.

"Jasper Whitlock!" She squealed in between her giggles.

Edward kneeled on his seat to stick his head over it, "Quiet you guys. If you keep laughing like that, how am I supposed to concentrate on tickling my Bella?"

"Kiss my pretty, little butt," I heard Jasper's muffled voice say.

I laughed and looked around to see that we had attracted quite the audience, thankfully they seemed more amused than irritated. A particular stewardess was staring at the seat next to me, and I realized that Edward was still facing away, which put his amazing jean covered butt on display. I tugged him down and he faced me, still chuckling; I smiled at his laughter, now that was a sight for sore eyes.

"So," he asked, his amused expression quickly turning into that of mischief. "Your nap over yet?"

I leaned forward and answered him with a kiss. If this were to be the last time I could truly be with him, then I would make it worth our while. We kissed passionately until the overhead announced that we were going to be landing; I was sure the stewardess and every other being that was staring at my boyfriend's butt before got the hint.

Edward's arm was wrapped securely around my waist, my own security blanket for what we were about to face.

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**A/N: So now you have some insight on Bella's family; i just hated that she had only Renee and Charlie in SM's books.**

**Review if you like to stare at Edward's jean covered butt too!**


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10-

After exiting the luggage claim, we walked outside and were greeted with two humans holding up a large sign for Carlisle Cullen. They were both old and stiff, wearing expensive suits and had beak-like noses turned high up in the air like the snooty butlers you see on TV. They took our luggage and piled it into the trunk while we entered the long, black limousine the Volturi had sent for us. None of us knew how long we were to stay in Italy, and so we each brought one luggage. As we drove off, I saw Edward looking broody and anguished again and I squeezed his hand in comfort. He squeezed back.

We were told that our luggage would be taken to our rooms in some fancy hotel called _Hotel La Locanda_, while we were to meet with the masters immediately as requested by Aro Volturi. We were dropped off on a street where a festival seemed to be in full swing, everyone was dressed in red and were gathered tightly together. I looked curiously toward the mass of people and Alice answered my unspoken question. "It's Saint Marcus Day," she murmured.

Jasper snorted from beside her, "How ironic is that?"

I looked at them in confusion and then balked as a curvaceous woman passed by us, dressed in nothing but a red, lacy negligee and thigh high red boots. She winked superstitiously at Carlisle and his eyebrows rose while Esme's eyes narrowed. Jasper and Emmett snickered despite the tension. One of the drivers motioned for us to follow him as he began walking towards the throng of people.

Alice stepped closer to me, Jasper following her, not wanting to let her out of his sight, I suppose. "You see, Bella," she began lowly in her lilting voice. _"The city holds a celebration every year. As the legend goes, a Christian missionary, a Father Marcus – Marcus of the Volturi, in fact – drove all the vampires from Volterra fifteen hundred years ago. The story claims he was martyred in Romania, still trying to drive away the vampire scourge. Of course that's nonsense – he's never left the city. But that's where some of the superstitions about things like crosses and garlic come from. _Father _Marcus used them so successfully. And vampires don't trouble Volterra, so they must work." Her smile was sardonic. "It's become more of a celebration of the city, and recognition for the police force – after all, Volterra is an amazingly safe city. The police get the credit." _

I chuckled darkly, "And after all that, there are vampires entering anyway, huh? And Saint Marcus invited them."

Alice nodded, "The holiday in itself is ironic." A girl, perhaps around nineteen elbowed her way in between Alice and Jasper, flashing him a smile and a peek under her heavy, red cloak. Jasper's eyes widened incredulously and it would have been comical if she hadn't turned and did the same with Edward and me. She was wearing nothing underneath there. NOTHING.

Edward looked away in disgust and I was satisfied he was the polar opposite of Emmett as my big bear of a brother seemed to be enjoying his flash. Rosalie glared a laser at the girl and out of fright, she walked quickly away from us, not bothering on flashing Carlisle, which seemed to please Esme immensely. I was told later by Edward that she had followed out a dare her friends set upon her; to flash any sexy man that she happened to cross.

Alice shook her head in revulsion. "The more time grows, the more sex will rule," she murmured darkly. Jasper looked anywhere but his wife, his lips trembling as he tried desperately not to release a laugh. I assume he threw his hysteria at Emmett because suddenly he boomed with laughter, scaring a few people in the process. Alice hissed at her brother and punched him in the gut.

"Ow! That hurt, woman!"

"That was the point, dufus."

People gave us a wide berth and I thought it was because we were dressed differently because we were certainly earning a few stares for that. But then I remembered my first day at Forks High where the Cullens were given a wide berth as well. It was because they were vampires, not because we were dressed differently but because the natural instinct of people was warning them to stay away, I marveled. I had never felt the need to give the Cullens any space because they seemed like a second family to me and I never noticed how humans treated them, frankly, it pissed me off a little.

We were led into a dark alleyway where the driver bid us goodbye. After a few seconds of waiting, something moved in the dead end wall of the alleyway, a shadow looked as if it was detaching itself from the dark walls; it appeared to struggle free and then began walking toward us. I clutched at Edward's jacket, scared out of my mind as I was reminded of the eerie dementors from the _Harry Potter_ series. He clutched back at me and tried to push me behind him.

When I was secured behind his back, however, I felt an unfamiliar cold hand on my shoulder and whipped around to see another dementor–like shadow. This one had it's lower face uncovered and I could detect a leer begin to form. Edward noticed my distress and whipped me back around, putting himself in front of me and growling dangerously at the sneering shadow.

I looked behind me to see the first shadow stop a few feet away from us. "Felix," he called in a surprisingly velvet tongue. His Italian accent was monotonous and bored, "Don't do anything Aro will make you regret."

Felix gave a snicker, but stepped back from Edward. Carlisle conversed quietly and quickly with the first shadow and he turned around to lead us further into the alley. Emmett came up behind Felix and snarled low in his chest, sizing his opponent up. Felix was just as big as Emmett was, maybe even bigger and this seemed to displease Emmett.

Felix held his hands up and snickered once more before following the first shadow. Edward muttered a quick thanks to Emmett before tugging me along. At the end of the alleyway was a manhole; Felix hoisted the lid up and one by one, the vampires descended into the fissure. Edward and I were before Rosalie and Emmett so that Emmett could keep Felix in line.

Edward lifted me onto his back and jumped gracefully into the hole, dropping me back onto the ground reluctantly once we hit land. The sewer was dark and smelled a little funky…like rotting flesh. I leaned even closer to Edward and he buried my face into his jacket where his scent managed to calm my panic slightly. He guided my feet as he wound this way and that; I didn't care, I trusted him.

I heard nothing but my footsteps, the blood rushing in my ears, my heart beating quickly, Edward's breathing and the occasional drip drop of water droplets. The vampires were completely quiet, not that I expected anything less.

I heard wood being hit and the Italian monotone speak, "Demetri and Felix. We brang the Cullens and their pet." Edward pulled me closer still; I could feel his growl vibrate against me. When I heard the ominous creak of a door opening, I looked up and was met with light. I squinted, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the brightness after having my eyes closed against the darkness.

The medieval looking wooden door opened to what seemed like a throne room where royalty would sit importantly like in the movies. There were three intricately decorated thrones, two sat about a foot lower on either side of what seemed like the most significant. None of the royalty that sat on the chairs wore any crowns or capes or even jewelry. They wore fancy cloaks and expensive suits looking underneath; the three were identical in facial features, but the similarities ended there. The one on the left had dark hair, cropped short and modern. His bored and pale exterior brought even more attention to his crimson eyes. The one on the right seemed to sink into his chair, white as snow hair that seemed to blend in with his skin tone were falling into identical crimson eyes as to that of his brother. I was reminded of a short and cranky Napoleon whilst looking at him.

The one in the middle seemed genuinely happy to see us. His slick black hair was tied at the nape of his neck, much like Jacob used to style his hair. But Jacob's tan skin and friendly face seemed normal to me. This guy, however, may as well have been the actor who played Dracula in _Van Helsing_.

Dracula stood up and beamed at Carlisle and I was surprised I didn't see any fangs protruding from his mouth, "Carlisle, my old friend!" He floated down the steps that led to his throne, his beautiful cloak trailing lightly behind him, and embraced Carlisle who smiled and hugged him back. His voice sounded smooth as silk, liquid and warm. He talked like my grandmother Marie did, but his voice sent sweat pooling to the base of my spine whereas grandma Marie's had had a calm, soothing affect.

"Aro, it's good to see you again," Carlisle also seemed genuine. But what do I know? These guys are supposed to be better actors than the best in Hollywood. Carlisle gestured to Esme, "My wife, Esme Cullen."

"Ah, so this is what you have been doing all these years," Aro smiled innocently, looking completely unaware of his innuendo or Carlisle's now forced smile as he kissed Esme's cheeks. "Wonderful, simply wonderful. And the others?"

He pointed out each of his children and their respective mates including Edward and me. Aro looked on with interest and zeroed in on me when Carlisle introduced us. I looked away from his penetrating gaze and let my eyes wander over to Felix and Demetri who stood by other shadows near the throne.

"Ah, such constraint you have, Edward. How can you stand so close to her?"

"It is not without effort, I assure you." Edward sounded strained.

"But still – _la tua cantante_! Such a waste!"

I tried to keep my expression as blank as the others, but I was sure confusion was painted all over my face. Edward chuckled darkly, "Actually, I've done some research in my time and have read up on a few things. Our singers are actually our soul mates and they will keep returning from death until they are united with their other half. Even if I were to have…well, she would've come back according to my research."

Aro's brows raised in surprise, "Is that so? How interesting! May I?" He held his hand out to Edward. Edward looked hesitantly at Carlisle, Carlisle nodded in resentment. Edward clasped his free hand to Aro's and Aro's crimson eyes glazed over, much like Alice's would if she were having a vision. After a couple of seconds, Aro's eyes cleared and he pulled another Alice as he clapped with happiness, "Amazing! Simply amazing!"

Rosalie, Esme, Emmett, Jasper and Alice seemed just as lost as I felt. Aro having noticed this, "Oh, how terribly rude of me! You see, I share some of your Edward deary's talent, only I am limited in a way that he is not." Aro's tone was envious.

"And also exponentially more powerful," Edward added dryly. He looked around at us as he explained. "Aro needs physical contact to hear your thoughts, but he hears much more than I do. You know I can only hear what's passing through your head at the moment. Aro hears every thought your mind has ever had." Esme looked distressed and Emmett raised his eyebrows, Edward inclined his head slightly.

Aro did not miss it. "But to be able to hear from a distance…" Aro sighed, gesturing to the exchange between the brothers. "That would be so _convenient_."

The other black-haired brother got up from his seat abruptly, gliding toward his sibling and reaching out his hand. He touched Aro's shoulder briefly and Edward snorted. I looked up at him curiously.

"Thank you, Marcus," Aro said. "That was very interesting." And I realized that Marcus was letting Aro know his thoughts. Aro was shaking his head. "Amazing," he said. "Absolutely amazing. Perhaps then, the bond is as strong as the thirst?" He asked himself.

Alice gave a quiet, frustrated huff from beside me. "Marcus sees relationships," Edward explained. "He's surprised by the intensity of ours." In my peripheral vision, I saw Rosalie clench her teeth and throw her hair over her shoulder.

"Hmm." Aro murmured. "If Marcus' power works, and Alice and Jasper's powers work as well, perhaps then it is something mental?" He shook his head and smiled. "If you don't mind, Bella, dear?" He held his hand out. "I would like to test a theory of mine."

I bit my lip and looked at Edward, unsure, he nodded reluctantly. I stepped forward, Edward holding my waist tightly and raised my hand to Aro. His skin felt smooth and cool, and much like Felix's had felt, foreign and unpleasant.

I looked at his face, unable to detach myself from his fiery eyes. His expression was friendly at first, then his confidence wavered into doubt, and then molded into incredulity before the friendly smile came back. "So very interesting," he murmured as he released my hand and stepped back, Edward pulled me back, too, back to our family. "I wonder," he cocked his head. "Jane, dear," he called. The white haired one, Caius, I presume got up to glide over and watch.

Edward and Carlisle looked horror struck. "Aro," Carlisle asked. "Is this truly necessary?" Aro actually ignored him as a child-like little girl walked up towards him.

"Yes, Master?"

"I was wondering, my dear one, if Bella was immune to _you_." Edward began to snarl dangerously and Alice demanded that Emmett constraint him. When our contact ceased, I almost felt like crying. Jasper helped calm Edward down, but my boyfriend's eyes were still desperate.

Carlisle put a hand on my shoulder and motioned for the rest of the family to step back. He looked apologetically at Edward and me before little Jane step forward. She gave me an innocent smile and I waited for…something. I remember Carlisle had said to be especially careful of this Jane, but I had no idea why. I looked back at Edward and he seemed to sag in relief as he stared between Jane and me. I looked back at Jane and was surprised to see anger and frustration clouding her expression, making her appear demented.

Emmett let go of Edward after Jasper gave the okay and Edward came to me so fast, he was nothing but a blur. Jane gave a growl and leaned forward, like she was about to lung at me. Aro laughed, "This is incredible! Amazing! Don't be put out, dear Jane, she confounds us all." I heard a light snicker come from near the thrones and Jane turned around to glare at Felix.

I watched in terror as Felix collapsed to the ground in agony, writhing in pain and screaming his head off. His bloodcurdling screams echoed through the walls and I shivered and shuddered against Edward as he held me tight and tried to turn me away from the horrific scene.

Aro put his hand on Jane and she looked up at him, Felix spared and breathing heavily on the floor, springing up as soon as he caught his breath and turned to glare at Jane. Aro chuckled under his breath, "Behave, my children." He scolded them lightly as if they were nothing but a normal family going through everyday mischief.

Caius looked on with disappointment and gave me a glare, too. Aro turned to us once more. "Now," he sighed. "What do we do with you?" Almost at once, every single vampire in that room surrounded us into a tight circle.

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**A/N: Mmm, so there were some references from the book and of course all the credit goes to SM.**

**The sexy chicks were inspired by the movie _Vampires Suck_.**

**Reviews are much appreciated.**


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11-

Our family surrounded us as well, Emmett, Jasper and Edward, crouching in front of Rosalie, Alice and Esme who were in a tight circle around me. Carlisle stood where he was with a calm expression and his hands out in front of him in a sign of peace.

Aro started, looking hopeful, "I don't suppose you all would mind joining our little company, would you? Such a powerful coven."

Carlisle, still calm, "We'd rather not." Aro looked at every one of the Cullen's faces and each stubbornly shook their head no. Then, to my utter shock, "Bella?"

Caius roared, "What? Aro, have you lost your mind?"

Aro rolled his eyes, "Don't be so pessimistic, brother, dear. Surely you can see the potential; why perhaps when she becomes one of us, she could be our most precious shield." Aro's eyes widened into saucers. "A shield! That must be it! Don't you see, she shields herself from Edward dear, from me, from Jane." He snapped his fingers in an 'aha' motion, "That must be it; a mental shield! She hides her mind from us but is susceptible to physical talents such as Jasper and Alice's. Oh, how wonderful!"

Caius looked at his brother with a slightly bored expression, "Are you quite done, Aro?"

Aro sighed, "Must you be so cynical? Yes, I am done." He turned back to me expectantly, "Bella? Now what I said may be just a theory, but I am very sure that your power will be a mental shield. Does that change your perspective, I wonder?"

I took a deep breath and said in a surprisingly level voice, "No, it doesn't. I refuse to go anywhere Edward won't." I hesitated, "But I am curious. Do you mind me asking how you found out about me?" I bit my lip as I wondered if that was overstepping. Oh, I am such an idiot; why couldn't I just say no, thanks? I was just about to start hitting myself when Aro spoke up.

"It is surprising how far one will go for love, Bella." He said cryptically. He motioned towards a door in the corner of the room. "Dear? Would you mind coming out?"

I stared in shock and disbelief as Tanya tripped out the door, looking at us remorsefully; a cloaked vampire held her by arm. Edward growled.

"Tanya?" Carlisle asked softly. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I'm sorry Carlisle," she whimpered. "I only came by to find out who killed Laurent because Irina was such a mess. I didn't intend for this to happen; you have to believe me, it was strictly on impulse!"

Carlisle shook his head sadly as Tanya looked around desperately, being dragged out of the room by the cloaked vampire after a dismissive gesture from Aro.

"Well, that's a shame, such a waste!" He looked immensely disappointed.

"Aro!" Caius hissed. "The law claims them."

Edward glared at Caius. "How so?" he demanded. He must have known what Caius was thinking, but he seemed determined to make him speak it aloud.

Caius pointed his pale finger at me, "She knows too much. You have exposed our existence."

"There are a few humans in on our existence here, Caius." Carlisle pointed out coolly. I was reminded of the two stiff drivers who had looked at the Cullens with distaste.

"Yes, there are," Caius gave a dangerous smile. "But once they are no longer of use to us, they will serve as sustenance. That is not you plan for this one. If she betrays our secrets, are you prepared to destroy her? I think not. Nor do you intend to make her one of us, therefore she is a vulnerability to our existence."

Felix stepped forward in eagerness. Carlisle held a hand up, "Wait!" He turned to Aro, "What if we do intend to give her immortality?" My mouth dropped open; giving me immortality…I had always seen it as impossible. Edward would never do that to me no matter how much I wanted it. Now I realized what I would be giving up; Charlie, my cousins, my aunts and uncles, Snowbell, the wolves were already out of the question, and I honestly didn't really give a shit about my friends from school, except for Angela and Ben of course. My mind was running a mile a minute and the blood roaring in my ears made it hard to understand what was going on around me.

I vaguely recall Aro holding Alice's hand, Caius spouting off more steam, and being led into a hallway while others piled in from the door that we entered. Were they human? I could see them giving off a tourist impression, but that was the last thing I saw of that room when Emmett blocked my view. We sat in a lobby of some sort; it looked like a waiting area or something.

I felt cool hands pressing against my head and heard distant voices.

What would it be like to be a vampire, I wonder? I tried to imagine a typical day in my life as a vampire. I think it would be a lot like Spring Break had been so far, minus the whole Volturi thing, of course. But, unlike the Spring Break, I wouldn't be able to talk to Charlie at all. That thought saddened me; I had been away from my father for so long, he had been alone for so long. Was I really willing to leave him in that state again? After just coming back to him?

I shook my head and tried to think of something more positive. What was I thinking about again? Vampire, typical day, Spring Break, oh yeah: what would a typical day be like as a vampire? I would spend all day at the Cullen house with Edward and the family. I wouldn't have to travel back and forth between my home and the Cullen house because the mansion would be my home. I would get forever with Edward, a forever where, if he wanted to, we would be married. A forever where there wouldn't be any boundaries keeping us apart from our love. I would spend forever with Carlisle coming and going from and to work, Esme would be mothering us, Emmett and Jasper would be in a war between who had better video game skills, Alice would use me as her very own mannequin and be my dresser for the rest of eternity.

Maybe even Rosalie would warm up to me in time.

We would have to move around every few years and I wasn't all that opposed to traveling, but everywhere we'd move would be dark and dreary, like Forks. Forks was my home, I grew up in Forks and then moved to New York that wasn't all that different from Forks. It was just bigger.

I could do that. But could I handle the animals, the overwhelming urge of my thirst? Edward and Carlisle would help me through that, I was sure, and I had gone hunting a few times with my father when I was young so killing an animal wouldn't be that sorrowful. Humans ate meat of a whole variety of animals; what would be the difference? Just which part we ate, er drank, would be different. It wouldn't be all that bad; but if I were to mess up, even once, and take the life of a human, would I ever be able to forgive myself?

I don't think so. Would Edward be able to forgive me? That thought sent a shudder wracking through my body and conjured up even more questions. What if he didn't even want me after I became a vampire? What if I was so different, I couldn't even recognize myself anymore? What if I didn't remember anything from my human life anyway? What if the Cullens didn't even want me anymore?

I groaned in misery and pressed the heels of my hands against my head, willing my headache to go away. My problem was that I thought way too much; what did Aro say again? He said that I was a mental shield? I wonder if I could try to shield my own mind from myself.

I felt cool hands lock around my wrists and pulled my hands away from my face with an irresistible force, I heard a soft, velvet voice ask me something, but it was too garbled for me to understand.

I tried looking at the direction from where the voice was coming from and realized my eyes were closed and willed my eyelids back. I blinked and hissed as the light stung my eyes with its brightness. I heard talking and the light dimmed a little, casting the room in a kind of dark, honey glow. I looked around and discovered that I was lying back on a bed, still in my clothes from before. I felt…weird. My head hurt and it was too hot. I needed to take a shower cause I still had the after affects of the plane ride on me.

As I looked around the room, the first thing I saw was an angel with bronze hair and a worried expression hovering over me. I smiled dreamily, "Hey, Edward."

He sighed in relief and picked me up like I was a child and cradled me in his arms as he whispered my name. The cold coming off of him felt really good against my hot skin and I snuggled further into him.

I peeked from his shoulder to see Carlisle packing up his medical bag while Rosalie exited the room, everyone else seated around me looking on with concerned expressions. My eyebrows furrowed, "Why's everyone lookin' at me like that?" Was I slurring?

Alice bounced onto the bed, "You went into shock and Carlisle said that your blood sugar was kind of low so he had to inject some sugar into you as well as some morpheme which is why you kind of feel like you're high now and you were like in a state between conscious and unconscious so we had to drag you back to the hotel cause you didn't listen to anything we were saying and now we're gonna get out of here and onto the fastest flight to Montana so that you won't be completely lying to Charlie when we get back and you can sleep on the plane if you want to, I'll handle Edward, don't you worry."

"Alice," I yawned. "That was the longest sentence I've ever heard someone say."

I heard chuckling all around me and Alice huffed, "I'm gonna kick you guys out of here now so that I can get her dressed for the plane ride."

I clutched onto Edward and he reluctantly pried my fingers off his shirt, "I'll be right outside waiting for you, love." And then he, along with everyone else, except for Alice, were gone.

"Okay, Bella, the faster you choose which outfit to wear, the faster you can go back to Edward. Got it?"

I threw my head back down onto the bed, spreading out eagle-style and held out a thumbs-up.

"Good! Now, pick!"

She had three different outfits laid out on the dresser and I had to get up to pick one out. They were all blue and paired with black or white accessories. I pointed out something randomly and hoped to God that it wasn't too revealing. Thankfully, God seemed to be on my side today and it was just a pair of leggings and a navy, long sleeved, cotton dress that went to my thighs. As soon as I was dressed and Alice deemed me presentable, I bolted for the door and went straight into Edward's arms.

I felt him kiss my head and murmur I love you before I fell into a deep sleep.

Alice had to shake me awake when we arrived at the airport; I dragged my feet and yawned several times while we were there, I was so tired. Esme and Edward led me to a little café and got me a small sub and some coffee to help wake me up.

"What's today?" I mumbled at my coffee cup.

"It's Thursday, we have three more days of vacation, love." Edward stroked my hair from beside me.

"Do you know when Charlie's gonna come back?"

"Not until Sunday."

"Hmm."

Esme spoke up after a moment of silence, "Have you ever been to Montana, Bella?"

I yawned; I couldn't help it. "No. But I bet it's beautiful."

"Yes, it is. I hope you'll enjoy it."

"Yeah," I bit in my sub and then snapped my head to Esme. "Wha?"

She chuckled, "You didn't hear much of a thing Alice said tonight, did you?"

"She talks too fast for me," I took another bite; it was pretty good. I swallowed, "So we're really going to Montana?"

She nodded, "We'll take some pictures for Charlie if you like and I hear the museums are wonderful."

Edward rubbed his hands together, "And so is the wildlife."

Once I finished my sandwich, we left to find the others, me being half supported by Edward and sipping my coffee slowly. As soon as I found a place to sit, the overhead announced our flight was ready and we, and we meaning I, trudged off for Montana while the others loped gracefully.

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**A/N: Some parts were from the book which is the sole property of SM, but the others were entirely my idea.**

**Edward says three days left of vacation and I'm not exactly sure how long it would take to get to Montana from Italy, but I want them to have three days, so disregard the flight to Montana and back to Forks. In my world, it will only take three hours :)**

**Reviews are the highlight of my day, as sad as it is, but I have no life.**


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12-

We settled at a cozy little hotel that was more like a five-story cabin than anything. Once we had unpacked, Carlisle brought us to his and Esme's suite and we sat in the small living area.

"Okay," he sighed. "There are a few things that we're going to have to discuss, here."

"You're damn right we do," I stared at Edward in surprise; I had never heard him use that tone and language with his father figure ever before.

Carlisle sent a stern look towards his son's way, "As I was saying, we have a few options to choose from. The Volturi want us to change Bella and they leave us alone until we commit another blunder in their eyes. Or, we can find another alternative and see if we can folly them with that. I'm open to suggestions." He raised his brows expectantly.

"Hold on a second. You haven't even asked Bella what she wants." Edward stated angrily.

Carlisle looked at me apologetically, "I'm sorry Bella, this _is_ your life we're talking about. Do you know what you want?"

I swallowed; my throat suddenly seemed as dry and scratchy as sandpaper. I cleared my throat, "Um, well. I thought about what would happen if I were to become a vampire. Ah, we'd have the wolves to worry about of course."

Carlisle nodded and frowned, "Yes, but I believe we can convince them if we must."

"And if we can't?" I thought about how they would feel learning that I had become a 'bloodsucker'.

He furrowed his brows, "Then we go to war."

My bottom lip trembled and I bit it, "I see." I took a deep breath and felt a cool, comforting hand slowly massaging my back. "But if I stay human, you go to war anyway with the Volturi."

"No, we don't." Edward interjected. "I have something to add before we decide what's best for us; for Bella.

"About the Volturi, I don't think we have to be overtly anxious. You see, the Volturi are overconfident, and with good reason. When they decide to find someone, it's not really a problem. Demetri, he's a tracker, I bet my bottom dollar he's a better tracker tan James ever was. Now the whole time we were there, I was picking everyone's brains for any information that may be useful to us.

"Demetri catches the…flavor? I'm not sure how to describe it, the tenor of someone's mind and then he follows that. It works over great distances. But after what Aro said, about the theory about Bella's talent, I don't think they'll be able to find her."

"But they can find you!" I was scared out of mind. It was hard to believe my life had become so complicated.

"And I can take care of myself. Whenever the Volturi decide to drop in for a visit, Alice will see, and I can hide you."

Emmett and Jasper agreed heartily with Edward and I could feel my mind racing.

Carlisle shook his head at them, "Anything else? Anyone else wish to put in something? No? Then we vote now. Alice?"

She glared at Edward, "I think Bella should become a vampire."

Carlisle looked at me and ignored Edward's growling protests, "How do you feel about that, Bella? You know no one is putting you under the obligation to be one of us. We can hide you if you wish."

I contemplated for a moment and then sighed, "I honestly think that becoming a vampire would be best." Edward looked at me in shock.

"And why would you think that?"

"Either way, I am going to lose Charlie," I said slowly, feeling the sadness rise up. "If you were to hide me, we'd have to give Charlie excuses and I would never see him again. If I were a vampire I still wouldn't be able to see my family, but nobody would be in danger save the wolves if they don't want to accept my fate.

"And if I were to go into hiding, don't you think the Volturi are cunning enough to lure me out the same way James did? I bet that they're cruel enough to actually use my family, too, not just a home video. They wouldn't care if one more human is sacrificed if it means putting order back. That would mean _my_ family would be in danger, and that's including you guys.

"If they can't lure me out, they'll try to lure you out. They have the resources, they can find out that Alice's niece still lives in Biloxi and they can use her niece to isolate her." Alice looked on in horror, and Edward looked like he was having second thoughts.

Carlisle nodded, "Excellent points, Bella. I've known the Volturi for a while and I certainly believe they're brutal enough to do so. In my opinion that rules out Edward's alternative; I also vote that we should change Bella. Anyone else disagree with the notion…besides Edward?"

Jasper and Emmett looked at each other and then apologetically at Edward and voted for immortality. Esme did the same but in a more motherly and comforting tone. Rosalie looked like she wanted to say something, but sighed out my immortality instead.

Furious was an understatement for Edward, he paced angrily and jumped out the window in a flash. I heard a cracking and creaking noise in the distance and a _whoosh_ of what sounded like a tree falling. A few birds squawked and flew towards the cabin before Edward reappeared; splinters caught in the left arm of his jacket.

Carlisle ignored him and faced me, "When do you want to do this, Bella?"

"Um, whenever you think is best, I suppose."

"How does after graduation sound?" That was so close, not even three months.

I gulped and nodded anyway; the faster the bandage gets ripped off, the faster the pain will subside. "And you'll be doing it?"

He smiled kindly at me, "If you want me to." I nodded again.

Edward walked briskly to me and held his un-splintered arm out to me, "Come on, we're going back to the suite."

He didn't have the patience to walk at my pace or say good-bye to his family; instead he threw me onto his back and ran to our suite. It was a good thing we had to rent out the whole floor or we would've gotten some peculiar stares.

He gently settled me on the bed in our bedroom and began pacing in front of me.

"Edward," I said in frustration. "You're going to wear a hole in the floor and then fall through!"

"Ssh!" he held a hand out to me. "I'm thinking here." I rolled my eyes, picking up the TV remote and turning on SpongeBob.

"Turn off that infernal, infuriating, little vermin." He pushed the off switch so hard the TV shoved back an inch.

"Hey! If you're mad, take it out on a punching bag, not SpongeBob!"

He sat down in front of me on the bed and rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure if I asked the runt, he would gladly be my punching bag."

I huffed and crossed my arms, "You're such a Squidward." Haha! If you think about it, they both had a lot in common; hatred for SpongeBob, the last part of their names, and their love for music. Oh my god, someone stop me, I'm going so hysterical, that I'm comparing Squidward with my Greek god.

"If I'm Squidward, Alice is SpongeBob."

I snickered, "Just wait until I tell her you said that." Not like there's anything to tell her, she probably saw or heard him say that already.

He sighed, "How did we ever get into this conversation?"

"You started it."

He tackled me on the bed so that we both went flying into the hotel's soft pillows, "And I very well am going to end it." He looked down at me with such intensity in his golden eyes that my breath caught in my throat.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" I asked breathlessly, welcoming the change in the air with open arms and legs.

He smirked down at me and sat up Indian style next to me, "By starting a new conversation." I scowled at his beautiful face and muttered unintelligibly under my breath as I got up to sit cross-legged in front of him.

"What?" I said annoyed.

"If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?"

I raised my eyebrows, "Um, you obviously."

He shook his head, "Something you don't already have."

I contemplated that for a moment. The first thing that popped into my mind was for me to still be able to be in Charlie's life after my change, but I couldn't see how that would be possible at all. It would mean telling him what I would have to become, given that he would be able to sense right off that something would be off once I transform.

Oh, who am I kidding? It would probably be impossible just to see him after my transformation; I'd be way to bloodthirsty to be in the same town as him. Doubts began to creep into my head again, but I mentally pushed them away and focused on Edward's question instead.

The second thing that pops into my mind is, "I would want…you to change me?" It came out as a question as I didn't know where he was going with this.

His eyes held a look of calculation, "And what would you do for it?" My mouth gaped open in a horrifyingly embarrassing way; I had told him this only because it seemed just a little more plausible than me coming in contact with Dad, I hadn't actually expected him to give the okay.

Because that isn't Edward; he wouldn't give in that easily without a fight or negotiation.

I squinted my eyes at him skeptically, "What are you thinking?"

He gave me a rueful smile and puppy dog eyes, "2 years?"

"What? You can't be serious! Edward, by then, the Volturi will have found us and we would be rotting who knows where!"

He grimaced, "How about six months?"

"Edward!"

"Five months?" He tried the puppy look again and I had to close my eyes to keep my head together.

"Be real, Edward. After graduation." It's not as if I actually wanted it so fast, but I had to do it for my family.

"Doesn't it mean anything to you at all?" He sounded frustrated but I knew if I opened my eyes, his puppy dog pout would be staring me full in the face.

"After graduation," I said through clenched teeth.

"Okay, forget time limits. If you want me to be the one to change you, you are going to have to meet a certain condition."

I opened my eyes, "Condition?"

He looked at me with the same intense eyes as before, "Marry me first."

The information hadn't exactly sunk in yet; it took maybe five very long seconds for it to do so. When I comprehended what he said, I searched his face for hints of joking. I was expecting him to break out in a roguish grin and yell, "Just kidding!"

But all I found was sobriety and a grim cloud in his eyes that was beginning to broaden and I realized he was waiting for me to say something.

"You're serious?"

"I haven't been more serious about anything in my life before, Bella." His voice and expression was composed of sincerity and the grim cloud in his eyes lightened into hope.

I heard screaming and recognized too late that it was coming from me.

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**A/N: Ok, I really hope you guys will forgive me for uploading late. Mid-winter recess just started and I just lazed aroung Saturaday and Sunday, which means watching TV, listening to music, and gorging myself with chunky choco gourmet cookies from Cosco :)**

**Review please!**


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